Since September of 2017, based on our records, there have been at least 20 men who have been granted bail after being accused of murder. Almost on a weekly basis, on Fridays, applications are made to the Supreme Court for bail for murder and more often than not they are granted. Most recently, on Friday, August 24 Jermaine Garnett and Keyron Gibson were granted bail.
Prior to 2017, the trend had been that bail was not granted for murder with only three cases in recent memory having been granted. Those included bail for Hubert Neal, a 74-year-old blind man in 1977; Jesus Marroquin in 2006 and 81-year-old, Manuel Teck Cucul, who was bailed in 2012 after being accused of killing his wife. It was not until September 22, 2017 that the Supreme Court in earnest began to grant bail for murder on a regular basis. The case that was brought up at the time was for Nelson Henry, who had been on remand for over five years for the murder of Edward Lord Jr.
At the time, his attorney Oscar Selgado had successfully argued that under Section 55 of the Belize Constitution, he was entitled to bail, especially if the persons who is charged is not afforded a fair trial within reasonable time.
Since that precedent was set, by our records, 20 persons have been bailed for murder after being on remand for over 4 years.
Persons who have been bailed for murder this year alone include Warren Lewis, Matthew Moore, Charles August, Gabriel Salazar, Jervis Diamonds Valencia, Kenneth Barrow, Nelson Henry, Orel Leslie Junior, Troy Hyde, Tyrone Meighan, Jedd Burgess, Travis Navarro, Jermaine ‘Horse’ Garnett, Keyron Gibson, Roque Middleton, Alton Bailey, Roger Hernandez, a person by the last name Ramirez, Alton Bailey, Aaron Bailey and Daniel Myvette. Again this list is based on our research and not through any official reporting.
Speaking to CEO of the Hattieville Prison, Virgilio Murillo, he noted that as of June 30 there were 270 persons who were on remand for murder with 49 being added to the list this year alone. He noted that the 20 or so persons who have been bailed had limited impact on the prison population as there have been more than twice the number of persons remanded this year that those who were bailed.
All told, Murillo says that as of 30 of June there were 470 persons on remand for various offenses. That is down from last month when it was up to 495.
While the issue of bail is not affecting the prison population, there are those within the police department, who have expressed concern over the bails which are being granted as those who are out may have an impact on the community where they return to while they await their trial.
