George street don George Herbert remains incarcerated in the United States under drug smuggling charges. And while he awaits trial in that country he had a legal victory in Belize today.
The Court of Appeals dismissed the government's appeal of the Chief Justice's judgement which found that Herbert had been improperly hustled out of the country. At the time the Chief Justice awarded Herbert's family $25,000 in damages and $5,000 in costs. The government appealed that, and Herbert's attorney dean Barrow cross-appealed, asking the court for a greater award. Since then, a new Attorney General has taken office, and agreed to Barrow's terms, which is damages of $50,000 and costs of $10,000. And while there's agreement, still the judges of the Court of Appeals stressed that the record show that government's appeal is dismissed and Barrow's cross appeal allowed.
Today Barrow told us that while it is an improvement, it's hardly meaningful consolation for Herbert's family, which has lost its sole breadwinner.