Tonight - the lofty legal profession lies low - as - for the first time ever - one of tis practitioners has been sent to jail, while another stands accused of rape - which, if not a first, is surely a very rare event.
We start in the High Court this morning.
Guilty - that was the verdict handed down in the trial against Oscar Selgado. Selgado was charged for abetment to commit murder in 2019 and tonight, this defense attorney is spending his first night behind bars at the Belize Central Prison, after years of helping accused persons stay out of it.
It's an unprecedented outcome and we've been following the trial since it started back in October. Courtney Menzies has this story.
This is the moment that defense attorney Oscar Selgado was escorted out of court after being found guilty of abetment to commit murder. Though the press prodded him for a statement, he remained silent as he descended the court steps and got into the police van. The van then carted him off to the cell block, for transfer to the Belize Central Prison, where he will be remanded until sentencing next month- a first for any attorney in Belize.
In her third win for the week, the DPP told us that she's satisfied that justice was served. She also commented that this is the first such case she has heard of in the last two decades.
Reporter
"How unprecedented is that an attorney was found guilty of such a crime in Belize?"
Cheryl Lynn Vidal, DPP
"I don't know of any other case, I've been here 23 and a half years."
Reporter:
"Can you talk to us about the penalty, the sentence that he could face?"
Cheryl Lynn Vidal, DPP
"The precedent so far for abetment to murder in the range of 7 years."
However, attorney Richard "Dickie" Bradley told the media that the maximum sentence could be life imprisonment. The 40-page final judgement says the same.
The judgement also revisits the evidence that was brought to the court over the course of the last five months, including the testimonies of witnessed like the Commissioner of Police, former inspector of police, Wilfredo Ferrufino, Senior Magistrate Tricia Pitts Anderson, as well as the heresy statement of Giovanni Ramirez.
Ramirez was allegedly contracted by Selgado to kill Marilyn Barnes after she reported him to the General Legal Counsel.
He was charged and presented with the disclosure, but once in court, he stated that he did not read it and rather just handed it over to his attorney. However, when the court considered this evidence, they did not believe, quote, "a long-standing criminal defence attorney would not read his disclosure until just before his trial" and that he was, quote, "feigning a loss in memory in relation to the existence of the CD." That is the CD that held the recordings in which he reportedly instructed Ramirez.
And the evidence brought by the DPP's office was enough to convict.
Reporter:
"What are some of the factors that the judge decided upon in this case?"
Cheryl Lynn Vidal, DPP
"He accepted the statement of Giovanni Ramirez, he found him to be truthful in his statement and that what was stated in that statement sufficed to prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt."
But it's likely that Selgado will try to appeal - however, the DPP says it won't be so easy.
Cheryl Lynn Vidal, DPP
"I don't think they'll be giving me that indication but I'm certain that he will. I'm also certain that he'll find it very difficult from what I heard to succeed on an appeal."
And whether Selgado will be disbarred, and the process to do so, will be handled by the General Legal Counsel.
Selgado was represented in court by retired judge Adolph Lucas.
Selgado will be back in court on April 29th for sentencing.
