The decade old struggle of 40 year old businessman, Rhett Fuller, to avoid being extradited to the United States took another bitter turn, when his request for bail was denied at a hearing held this morning at the Supreme Court in Belize City. Fuller has been behind bars since August 22nd, when he turned himself into Police after the Privy Council turned down an appeal by his attorneys for a stay of extradition. And so once again, Fuller's attorney Eamon Courtnay was in court asking a judge to entertain bail while his client, accused of the murder of American national, Larry Miller, awaits a decision from the government whether to extradite him to the United States. Jim McFadzean was at the Supreme Court for the decision and has this report.
Jim McFadzean Reporting
"This court has no inherent jurisdiction to grant the petitioner's request for bail. Mr. Rhett Fuller has exhausted all of his judicial appeals. The matter is now in the hands of the Executive." So was the ruling made this morning by the Honorable Justice Adolph Lucas."
The ruling is another crippling blow to the extraordinary efforts mounted over the last decade by Fuller's attorney's to keep him from the reaches of the long arms of American justice.
In making the case for bail on behalf of Fuller this morning, Attorney Eamon Courtenay posed the question, whether there was a point where his client has no more opportunity to exhaust judicial review. Today's ruling by Justice Lucas seemed to have signaled just that.
Eamon Courtenay
"Unfortunately Mr. Justice Lucas concluded that he did not have the power to grant bail at this stage. The current is that having lost in the Privy Council the next stage in the extradition proceedings is to make a request to the minister to decide whether or not he is going to surrender Mr. Fuller."
Jim McFadzean
"Mr. Lucas said something very interesting in court. He seems a little bit surprise that Rhett had not remained on bail during the whole Privy Council and now the appeal to the executive."
Eamon Courtenay
"What had happen actually is that the order that the same Justice Lucas made in 2009 was that Mr. Fuller was to remain on bail until the conclusion of the proceedings relating to his extradition. Now the first point is that information had come to hand that there was a plan to take Mr. Fuller out of the jurisdiction without the court process and he became very concern because a warrant has been issued for his arrest and it was sitting down fort over a week and the sources were telling us "be careful" and Rhett was worried that he would not get an opportunity to make his representations. So he voluntarily said 'here I am' so as not to run the risk of being taken out illegally."
Jim McFadzean
"Has the Foreign Minister given any guarantee that that won't happen?"
Eamon Courtenay
"Very good question, just let me finish that last point Jim. Essentially what is going to happen is that he turn himself in - in order to ensure that the rule of law will prevail and what the Judge was saying to us in short just now is that the matter is with the executive. If the executive were to decide - the minister decides that he is going to surrender Rhett to the Americans - it is precisely that question. i just spoke to the learned council for the Attorney General's ministry indicating that we would like a undertaking from them that if the minister in the unlikely event that the minister were to rule that Rhett should be surrender that we would be given sufficient time to come back to court for the court to review that decision."
Jim McFadzean
"If faith once lied with the courts for the determining the faith of your husband - now its at the executive level. Any hope left that your husband will remain in the country and not be extradited to the United States?"
Ann Marie Fuller, Wife of Rhett Fuller
"There is always hope. it's never over until it is over. I would like to take this opportunity to say that I have open up a Facebook page for Rhett on behalf of him and we are going to be posting some updates on that Facebook page with regards to the decisions of the court and we would invite anyone to join the page and place their comments and we'd be more than happy to entertain the answers to the questions."
"Another huge disappointment here today at the courts for 40 year old businessman, Rhett Fuller, whose fate now lies with Foreign Minister, Wilfred Elrington. Minister Elrington is expected to hear an appeal on behalf of Rhett from his attorneys, as to whether he is extradited back to the United States or remain here in Belize. Reporting from the steps of the Supreme Court in Belize City, for Seven News, I'm Jim McFadzean.
According to Courtenay, the Minister is expected to entertain appeals made by Fuller's attorneys, next Wednesday. And to assist in making those representations, former member of the Court of Appeal, Attorney Denys Barrow has been added to Fuller's defense team.
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