The woman testified on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 that around 8:30 p.m. she was waiting for her husband to pick her up from Old Belize, and when he did not, she decided to start walking towards her mother’s house which was just a little more up the road. However, when she was near Mile 6 on the Western highway, Levi Jackson offered to give her a ride in his car. Since he was heading towards Hattieville and there wouldn’t be any more buses towards her destination, she decided to take the ride. Upon approaching and passing her stop at Mile 8, it became obvious that Jackson had other intentions.
She attempted to get out of the car, but when she tried to do so, Jackson locked the door from his driver seat. After insisting that he take her home, Jackson continued up the Western Highway where he cut off into the Hattieville/Boom road and unto a feeder road. There Jackson begged her to have sex with him; she refused and that was when he grabbed her out of the car by her hair, punched her in the face, ripped off her clothes and raped her.
In his defense, Jackson did not deny knowing the woman. However, he did deny having sexual intercourse with the woman, but said that they had consensual oral sex because the woman said that sexual intercourse makes her tired. When addressing the jurors, he told them that they could not convict him of the crime because they could not judge him as his only judge is God, his advocate is Christ and that he is an innocent man. The trial for Jackson began last week Wednesday, April 29, in front of Justice Oswell Legall in the Supreme Court. Senior Crown Council from the DPP’s office Cecil Ramirez prosecuted the case and it took the jury less than two hours to convict Jackson of the crime. Sentencing is set for Friday, May 8. Jackson faces a jail term of eight years to life in prison.
