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Fuller had been granted bail twice since the extradition case began back in 1998, and it is with that history that his attorney Eamon Courtenay had staked his appeal. Jim McFadzean found out how it went:

Jim McFadzean Reporting

Fuller's defense team, headed by Senior Counsel, Eamon Courtney entered the application for bail with much optimism that there was a strong chance of it being granted. Fuller, after all, had been granted bail twice during the decade old extradition proceedings.

But in his decision this morning to deny bail, Justice Adolph Lucas expressed that quote: circumstances had changed that were not favorable to the petitioner.

Senior Counsel Eamon Courtenay - Attorney for Rhett Fuller
"Justice Lucas and his decision which he just handed down identified the fact that since Mr. fuller had turned himself in, the minister has, of course, decided that he should be extradited to the United States. We challenge that decision - Mr. justice Awich has dismissed that challenge to the Minister's decision and said that Mr Fuller shall be extradited, and the judge says that is a change in circumstance - which means that he is very close to the end of all the legal options that he has, and based on that, there is a heightened possibility that he would flee. The fact that he's a Belizean, the fact that he has a business and that he's married with children was not enough to persuade the judge that he's likely to remain in Belize."

Jim McFadzean
"So where do we go from here? The judge says he's exhausted pretty much all his legal appeals; why prolong this drama?"

Senior Counsel Eamon Courtenay
"Well it's not a matter of prolonging this drama. Mr Fuller has rights, and those rights must be brought before the court, and the court must determine that he no longer has rights. When that point is reached then the process will take place, and he will be extradited if the court reaches that conclusion."

A conclusion that now rests with the court of appeal, and if we are to believe Courtenay, that court has now become Fuller's last avenue of appeal.

Senior Counsel Eamon Courtney
"The current situation is that he has an appeal against the decision of Mr. Justice Awich, which we are now hoping will be ready for the March session of the court of appeal, that is an appeal as to whether or not the Minister was right in concluding that Mr. Fuller should go to the United States. Let me say this. The court of appeal - the appeal that is pending - we're asking the court of appeal to bring this matter to an end, so it's either we win or we lose."

The 40 year old showed up at today's ruling against his will, having informed his attorney that he preferred receiving either the good or bad news from his jail cell, where he's been in solitary confinement since August of last year. Fuller's wife, who appeared today at the courthouse along with Rhett's grandmother, who is visiting from the United States, did not care to speak with us on camera but told us neither she nor her husband was optimistic about the outcome of the appeal, claiming there was too much weight being put on the government's treaty obligations and what appears as the Attorney General's weighty influence on the court's decision making process.

Jim McFadzean
"I know the last time we were here - his last hearing - you expressed concern about his health. Are you even more concerned now about his health now that this application for bail has been denied?"

Senior Counsel Eamon Courtenay
"Well, there's a mental weight that is bearing on him. I think that he is very worried, he realizes that his chances are running out. As I said, he is in solitary confinement getting 4 hours of sun light every week."

Jim McFadzean
"Pardon me. Is that solitary confinement at his own accord or -?"

Senior Counsel Eamon Courtenay
"No, that is by the decision of the prison authorities - as I understand it. I don't know if - that there is any threat to Mr. Fuller or there's any worry, but that's the decision that they have taken. He is getting very little sunlight, has no contact with other prisoners, and I think he realizes that he is coming close to his last appeal."

The Americans who have been closely watching the case unfold over the past decade are no doubt pleased with today's court ruling, hoping now that it's only a matter of time before Fuller faces American Justice. But Fuller's Attorney Eamon Courtney might remind them of one of their favorite sayings: that, "it ain't over until the Fat Lady sings."

Courtenay affirms that, should the Court of Appeal turn down Fuller's appeal, he would still be eligible to apply to the CCJ, but that is unlikely to happen.