5 months ago, we told you about Orel Leslie's lawsuit against the Belize Central Prison. He was one of the 3 men who were jointly charged for the November 2012 murder of James Noralez.
Leslie and his co-defendants, Tyrone Meighan and Brandon Baptist were acquitted of Noralez's murder in a Supreme Court trial in 2015, but DPP Cheryl-Lynn Vidal appealed the outcome at the Court of Appeal. She successfully convinced the panel of judges in 2017 of setting the acquittal aside, and ordering a retrial. That meant that Leslie, who had been out for about 2 years, had to go back on remand at the Prison while he awaited his retrial.
During that time, he alleges that the prison treated him inhumanely, and that when the wardens accused him of misbehaving and breaking prison rules, they didn't afford him natural justice, and an opportunity to prove his innocence.
He's basically accusing the prison authorities of singling him out while he was in their custody, and ill-treating him. Justice Courtney Abel attempted to start hearing this case in June of this year, but at that time, Leslie's retrial was in progress, and there were delays. You'll remember that 1 month later, he and his co-defendants were acquitted a second time, which meant that he was released from the prison. He is now finally able to pursue his civil suit, and today was day one of the full trial.
Leslie was called to the stand to elaborate under oath about his alleged ordeal behind bars. After he gave his evidence, Crown Counsel Agassi Finnegan, and the Prison's attorney, Phillip Zuniga, both had their opportunities to challenge the truthfulness of his allegations against the prison.
The first day of the hearing concluded several hours later, and, we got a chance to speak with Prison CEO Virgilio Murrillo about it. He told us that this was the first time that a former inmate has brought a lawsuit against prison:
Virgilio Murrillo - CEO, Belize Central Prison
"You are right when you say that it is the first time an ex-inmate is ever taking the prison to court. His claim really, is that his constitutional rights were being denied. This claim arose from the time Orel Leslie was an inmate at the Belize Central Prison. He had violated prison rules, and in prison, it is - you face what is called a tribunal, and he's not charged criminally for those offenses - or those infractions, as you would want to call it. He's charged for offenses against prison discipline. Remember, I keep saying that prisons are all about order and discipline, and one of the things I want to emphasize at this point in time is that, we must all understand that the prison is the last sanction available to the courts to manage those persons who have failed alternative punishments. It literally means that when you come to prison, if you carry on with your same behavior, then, you should be disciplined. We cannot mince with that. We have to try and either try and reform you, one way or the other, either through programs, or through disciplines."
"There's 2 things that he's saying. He's saying that he is denied his constitutional right, as it relates to the charges that he was charged for under the prison rules. Now, I'm not too worried about that charge, because like I said, we didn't charge him criminally for the offenses. We charged him for offenses against prison discipline, which is far different than a criminal charge. On the other hand, he is alleging that the prison treated him inhumanely, and that is what he really has a serious burden to try and prove."
The court had to adjourn the hearing after several hours because Leslie wants to call witnesses to testify on his behalf. Now, the people who he asserts can corroborate his complaints of ill treatment are inmates, which poses a difficulty for the state.
The procedure of removing prisoners from behind bars requires a removal order from a Supreme Court judge. And to hear it told by Leslie's attorney, Audrey Matura, the prison was also intentionally trying to frustrate the process by denying them access to these potential witnesses.
So, we challenged Murrillo on that claim, and if he and the prison were trying to block witnesses from testifying against them. Here's how he answered that one:
Reporter
"If I understand Miss Audrey Matura correctly, it sounded as though she was suggesting that you all were trying to deny them access to these potential witnesses against you and the prison."
Virgilio Murrillo - CEO, Belize Central Prison
"Yeah, that is what she says, but listen, the prisoners that they want to bring are both convicted prisoners, and attorneys need to know that if a prisoner is convicted, there is really no case to fight for that prisoner anymore, unless you're appealing the case. And as far as I'm concerned, these prisoners have been convicted quite a while ago. That 21 days appeal time has already elapsed. As a matter of fact, one of them is doing a life sentence. Miss Audrey Matura knows - or she should know that if you need to get a prisoner out of the prison, other than the normal removal to attend a hearing, you need to get a special order from the judge. I cannot released a prisoner just on word of mouth of an attorney. That's not how it works. I have to be ordered by the judge to remove a particular prisoner, and the particulars of the prisoner is going to be listed on the order, and then I'll be obliged to do so, because then, I'd be in contempt of the court itself."
The trial is on a temporary pause to allow for the proper procedures to be carried out, so that Justice Abel can give the removal order for the inmates to come to court and testify as Leslie's witness. That procedure is set to be carried out tomorrow, but the judge did note his reservations of allowing this course of action. He said that the court was "bending over way backwards" to facilitate this procedure, but that he is allowing it for the benefit of Leslie as the claimant. There was also a debate between the judge and the two sides about whether or not Leslie's attorney, Audrey Matura, properly utilized all the avenues available to her, so that she could get around this alleged blockade of the witnesses that she says the Prison was engaging in.
We'll keep following the case, and we'll update you accordingly.
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