2 weeks ago, we told you about the arraignment of the 5 Belize City men who filmed themselves while they were showing off what looked like illegal firearms equipped with extended magazines.
Those defendants are 33-year-old Joseph Winston James, 29-year-old Sheldon Grinage, 32-year-old John Grinage, 32-year-old Hubert Baptist, and 35-year-old Brandon Baptist. Tonight, late-breaking news on this case is that everyone except Joseph James has been granted bail by the Supreme Court. Their attorneys are working on finalizing the necessary documents to secure their release from Belize Central Prison.
As we reported, all 5 accused men were seen boasting in that video of just how many bullets they would be able to fire with those extended magazines. The recording was then sent out into private WhatsApp groups, and it quickly caught the attention of the Police Department.
After a police special operation, all 5 were rounded up, arrested, and charged with the offenses of being a member of a criminal gang and participating in a video that promotes gang activity. The Chief Magistrate refused to grant them bail at their arraignment, and so, their attorney, Orson "OJ" Elrington, promptly applied to the Supreme Court for a bail hearing on these charges.
That hearing took place before Justice Herbert Lord today, and at its conclusion, their attorney managed to convince the court that the Grinages and the Baptist men are entitled to bail. That matter went late into the afternoon today, and after the hearing, Attorney "OJ" Elrington granted us a Zoom interview to discuss the outcome.
Here's what he told us shortly before the start of our evening news:
Orson "OJ" Elrington, Attorney for the Accused
"On the last occasion we applied for bail and the judge sitting at that time had adjourned the matter for 2 weeks so that the prosecution could present their case as to why they were objecting to bail and so today was the date set down to hear the matter. It was heard before a different judge, but nonetheless, it was heard today. While initially indeed the crown objected to bail for all 5 accused, today at court while they did raise some objections to all 5, they only submitted formal objections for one of the 5 and that would have been Joseph James. So we were able to successfully get bail for Brandon Baptist, Hubert Baptist, John Grinage and` Sheldon Grinage. So those 4 persons did received bail. However, the 5th of them Joseph James we were not successful in doing so. The prosecution offered 4 grounds on which they objected to his bail; one that the petitioner had previous convictions for serious crimes, the petitioner is currently on bail for other offences, the petitioner owes outstanding fines for the court and the commission of violent crime with firearms are prevalent in Belize. Those are the 4 grounds that the crown submitted their objections on. However, the ground that the judge found to be persuasive was that the petitioner is currently on bail for other offences."
Reporter
"What are your thoughts on the video? The last time we had this discussion, you suggested that it could have been doctored and edited. It doesn't seem like it's an edited video, sir."
Orson "OJ" Elrington, Attorney for the Accused
"Again, the charges that are before the court, I, having seen the video, it still does not support the charges that are before the court and I will leave it at that."
Elrington and his team are hard at work to finalize the necessary paperwork for their release from prison. Once they are released, they will have to abide by strict bail conditions. The defendants are due back in court on September 24, 2021.
