And while Emil Bradley criticized the security personnel for their part in the whole tragic situation, Attorney advising the prosecution, Dickie Bradley, today wanted to clear up his role in this week's proceedings - which is not as a defense attorney.
He spoke to us during one of the courtroom's short breaks and gave a comprehensive review of the morning's witnesses and their very important revelations:
Dickie Bradley, Attorney-At-Law
"The trial has been progressing pretty good, as you know we are actually at the tail end now for the prosecution's case and I would just like to clear the air that I am with the prosecution in this matter that Oscar Selgado, the hardest working attorney in Belize City is representing the accused former officer Corporal Martinez. This morning prosecutor Javier Chan called to the stand the doctor who did the postmortem which as you would see, the defence attorney did not press any issue in relation to the doctor's finding that that particular type of wound, he was shot in the back around the shoulder blade. The bullet exited the body and came out through the chest on the left side. It damaged arteries so that in fact the young man would not have been able to be saved even if he had been rushed to a hospital. You would know from the previous testimonies yesterday that when Laddie Gillett was shot and fell face down that nobody grabbed him and tried to rush him to any hospital. They went and held on to the next young man, told him that he would be charged for breaking curfew when it was not curfew hours and they then put Laddie in the vehicle after only standing up by him for a while and they did not go to the polyclinic in Placencia, they went to the police station and left the other young man Palacio there and then went to, the is why the learned trial judge was asking questions from the Doctor today in regards to the amount of damage the bullet would do if there was some way that had earlier medical attention if it would have saved him. After the doctor came one of the most important witnesses in this case and that is because there is no eyewitness to seal the prosecution's efforts to say who fired the fatal shot. Fortunately, a number of the witnesses are fellow police officers and thought they fudged around and dance a kind of pachanga it became clear that the only other person that even had a firearm was a special constable whose gun was not taken out and who had not discharged his firearm."
"So, Miss Sherilee Lino testified in a most professional manner and went methodically and established not only that the important items, the gun the magazine, the bullets and the shell that was retrieved from the scene of the crime reached Belize's forensic lab, properly sealed as the rules require. She had these things photographed and opened. She did an initial examination and did a thorough scientific examination and the evidence was uncontroverted, not even challenged is that the shell, the sole single shell retrieved from the scene of the shooting matches the gun that the officer yesterday from the crime investigations branch said he in fact went to officer Martinez the accused and in the presence of the scenes of crime technician, who also photographed, everything, he asked him to hand over his issued firearm which he did and he stayed there and witnessed the proper processing without any objection and without raising any concerns."
"Well there has been no shaking of any of the important witnesses, the winning doesn't come at this stage because no one has heard the other side, but in terms of presenting evidence, which has not been in any way, not been shaken in any way in fact the questions to Sherilee Lino is not that you are not sure that shell came from that gun, you can't say certain things, that is not the question. The questions were a little on academic style and she repeated how she felt almost 100% that, that shell is from that gun, there are scientific ways you can tell. If a bullet can be retrieved from the body it would have been 100% because they are the stir-rations that come through the gun, that matter has not been challenged. So, in the submissions, I imagine they will say you need to consider that it is not 100% sure. If I was to make a layman's guess at this stage I would say that the prosecution is ahead."
