A coast guardsman was charged with assaulting a police officer today in Belmopan's Magistrate Court, but his attorney says video footage tells a different tale.
Juan Vasquez sustained multiple injuries to the face and his arms after he claims it was the cop who assaulted him. Today, after his family posted bail, his attorney, David McKoy explained that the proof is in the video.
Courtney Menzies spoke to him and has this story.
This was the scene outside La Cabana Nightclub in Belmopan when Coast Guardsman Juan Vasquez was allegedly beaten by a police officer. He and his brother claim they were assaulted after a fight broke out. Vasquez's lawyer explained that despite the injuries his clients sustained, they were the ones who were charged.
David McKoy, Attorney For Juan Vasquez
"Basically my client has indicated that he was socializing at La Cabana Nightclub and in the wee hours of the morning, I would say like 3 thereabouts, the club finished and he had a conversation with one of the person who worked at the nightclub in relation to tickets and from there, the situation unraveled where a brawl happened and as a result of the brawl, he was somehow involved, according to the police, and allegedly inflicted injuries on the police but as you can see, the pictures, the videos show a completely different situation so my client is already charged and he has his court date so the matter is before the court and he intends to explore other options available to him."
And McKoy - a former police senior officer - says that even though the video may not show the full brawl, it's evident that the officer was using excessive force.
David McKoy, Attorney For Juan Vasquez
"It is very troubling because, again, we're not saying that police officers shouldn't do their job but they have to do it the right way, treat people with common decency and dignity that is required. You can see in a video that one of the police apparently was slapping the individual who is recording to try and have some level of transparency and he kept on slapping him and slapping him. That's totally wrong so at the end of the day, I know the family wants justice in the right way and I'm hoping that this type of behavior is not something that is continuously being done because it is very damaging."
Courtney Menzies:
"What is your client saying in terms of what happened, who was the first aggressor, was he defending himself?"
David McKoy, Attorney For Juan Vasquez
"As far as I am instructed, he was not even in a position to do anything to anyone. He was on the ground and he was being kicked, punched and so forth and again the information is that it was a brawl, there was a lot of people around so it wasn't a situation where he from my understanding was in direct confrontation with a police officer but again the matter is before the court so he will have his day in court and we'll see what happens from there."
He has advised his client to make a report to the professional standards branch.
Vasquez's next court date is October 2nd. According to Admiral Elton Bennett, he is on interdiction as the case proceeds.
