After four hours of deliberations today, a jury of 6 women and 3 men found 36 year old former police constable, Jaime Pena, guilty of Bigamy - being married to two different women at the same time.
Pena is said to have married his first wife, Ruby Pena nee Camara, on February 7th, 1998 at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Corozal. She testified that they lived together as man and wife for about 9 years and are the parents of 3 children, ages 13, 9 and 7. Orelia Bates one of the witnesses to that marriage also testified in court, and the marriage certificate was admitted as evidence.
Edmund Pennil, the Registrar at the Supreme Court testified that at Pena's second marriage he was the person who performed the ceremony at the Registry between Pena and Olga Leticia Gusman Vasquez, a Guatemalan national, on February 19th, 2008.
Pena seemed to go to the tireless "It wasn't me" defense, as he gave a statement from the dock in which he claimed that his name was Jaime Pena, not Luciano Jaime Pena which was the name on the certificate of his first marriage.
Justice Herbert Lord has deferred sentencing until Friday, November 11th. Pena was un-represented while Crown Counsel Shenieza Smith represented the prosecution.
