A police man and a soldier who have been in jail for three weeks for perverting the course of justice - were back in court today begging for their freedom.
BDF Private, Ramon Alberto Alcoser and Police Constable Juan Carlos Morales were transported from the prison to the Magistrate's Court for a mitigation hearing.
BDF soldier Ramon Alberto Alcoser cried for mercy from the court, he said he just wanted an opportunity to go home for Christmas to be with his family. Alcoser questioned the system and gave his take on penalties that made the DPP ask him if he knows what the offense he has been convicted of. He said "not really."
Both he and Morales were convicted based on evidence that they deliberately gave false statements about the fatal shooting of off duty BDF soldier Jesse Escobar in 2021. The fatal shooting was caught on camera which proved their statements about Escobar as the instigator to be untrue.
Both men are trying to avoid jail time - when the DPP has indicated that she is going for custodial sentences. Here is what she told us when they were convicted on November 12th.
Cheryl Lynn Vidal, DPP
"And as you may recall, the recording showed very clearly that Jessie never reached out and grabbed anyone's gun. It showed very clearly that he was not behaving in any aggressive manner towards the person who eventually shot him, but in their statements, they were painting a picture that these civilians were behaving in a very aggressive manner, and that Jessie, who was a soldier himself but was off duty, was threatening Private Raheem Valencio and going to once in with an intention to disarm him, and the magistrate found that that was not actually supported by the video evidence."
"Definitely a custodial sentence in my view. This is not the kind of offense, and it was an offense committed by law enforcement officers, not the kind offense that would see a non-custodial sentence being imposed."
The Mitigation hearing was adjourned today at 5:30 and will resume on December 9th when pleas will be heard for police constable Morales.
