After more than two years on remand, next week Tuesday accused murderers Taejron Bennett and Joseph Kee will finally have their day in court. Both men were arrested in May 2006 after police investigators alleged that they had shot and killed Phillip and Kevin Brannon in the early morning hours of may fifteenth in front of Brannon family’s Albert Street West home. But the news tonight is where they’re going to court and under what circumstances: the case will be heard in Belmopan and before retired judge, Troadio Gonzalez.
And here’s why: because of the congested calendar of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Dr. Abdulai Conteh, has applied for and received permission from the Governor General to bring Justice John Gonzalez out of retirement and put him back on the bench. Having reached the retirement age of sixty-five earlier this year, Gonzalez’s courtroom activities had been limited to finishing up decisions for cases that he had presided over; some of them date back more than ten years. But he’s dusting off his robes and going from the administrative backroom to the bench.
In speaking with 7NEWS earlier today, the CJ says he had little choice because, quote “we simply don’t have enough judges…there is too many cases in the pipeline to clear.” Tonight we understand that Gonzalez’s appointment will be in effect until there is some relief in the current state of the court’s affairs. According to Conteh, Gonzalez will mostly be dealing with matters arising from the Cayo and Belize Districts and will be mostly based in Belmopan.
That’s why the capital city will be the venue for the Brannon murder case. The trial against Kee and Bennett is expected to be a lengthy one as Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryl Lynn Branker Taitt is planning to call no less than twenty four witnesses. The accused are being represented by Dickie Bradley and Senior Counsel Ellis Arnold.
