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And, one year ago, it all came to a head. Since then, Zabaneh and his mom have been in and out of court, but tonight they are both free of all charges, after Senior Magistrate Aretha Ford upheld a no case submission made by his attorney Emil Arguelles. We spoke to all parties outsi

Emil Arguelles, Attorney For Dion Zabaneh
"Basically it was our position for the beginning that the developer needed no environmental clearance of permission. It is not every septic tank, or AirB&B, or adding a floor to a development that the DOE has jurisdiction over."

Jeavon Hulse - Legal Counsel, Ministry of the Environment
"And the law speaks to significant environmental impacts. In her view the information that was presented in court did not give the force of that significant environmental impact, and so, for us now that is something that we need to go back and strengthen, how do we prove in court significant environmental impacts?"

"This da wah learning experience. We learned a lot. Hands down. We got beat, we went on the ropes, they knocked us down, we got up, we came back, we learned. And so now it is to go back, look at our processes and see what need to be strengthened, what we need to do better."

Emil Arguelles, Attorney For Dion Zabaneh
"We were of the opinion that due to its size even though it may be larger than the average house lot in Belize. there were certain parameters written win law that triggered the DOE to have jurisdiction and this was not one such case due to the size of the property, due to the amount of landfill, due to whether dredging occurred or not."

Jules Vasquez, reporter
"Even though it was ostensibly in the sea?"

Emil Arguelles, Attorney For Dion Zabaneh
"No, that was, ehm, if you look at a map of the area the landline yes, is in the sea that we took the opinion was eroded, and it was re-filling. So it's not...it was water that was on land that he was reversing."

Dion Zabaneh, Case Dismissed
"Yes, but Mr. Vasquez you are saying land that is by the sea."

Jules Vasquez
"In the sea, I said."

Dion Zabaneh, Case Dismissed
"What you're saying by the sea, you're just excusing one person out. And why you can't look at everybody else that's fulling property? The whole of Belize is swamp and everybody has, Brodies has land right next to that property that was on the sea, the daughter have land by the sea, everybody has land by the sea."

Emil Arguelles, Attorney For Dion Zabaneh
"If no permission was needed in the first place then there was no legal order that he disobeyed and, by extension there was no legal grounds for which the officer or officers ought to have been on the property dictating any cease and desist orders. So if there was no permission needed, everything else fell like dominoes on the wayside."

Dion Zabaneh, Case Dismissed
"And it shows the abuse of power, Mr Vasquez, because you know what we didn't need the GSU out there we didn't need the doe out there, we didn't even need the media out there."

Jules Vasquez
"But, it looks like it was you abusing them when you look at the video."

Dion Zabaneh, Case Dismissed
"But if somebody come in your yard, mr Vasquez and come and tell you how to handle your yard, see if you wouldn't get mad, see if you wouldn't get mad."

"And tell me something, to go through that abuses I might have acted a little way but anybody that is tormented in that factor, you'll see the worst that comes out of them."

Jules Vasquez
"Well everyone saw the interchange, very unfortunate very unkind - the judge said you had no authority to be there."

Jeavon Hulse - Legal Counsel, Ministry of the Environment
"And that really is the sad thing, because the officer was just asking me that very same question if because the fact that the magistrate determine that the matter was not rightfully brought. It's an unfortunate situation."

Jules Vasquez
"But the humiliation that your officers endured."

Jeavon Hulse
"Sometime you have to take that, it's how the job goes. We are public servants and people will curse you and people will tell you this and that. At the end of the day our job is to serve."

Of course, all this back and forth is kind of in a vacuum because - as we have reported - parcel 4670 was compulsorily acquired by the government as far back as 2007. But, it seems Zabaneh and his mother never got that memo, and he had been operating as if she still held title. But, it's government land now - which makes all of this kind of suPERfluous:

Jeavon Hulse - Legal Counsel, Ministry of the Environment
"The acquisition goes back all the way to 2006 and February 2007, so the land had already been acquired from all the way back then and this guy proceeded to develop not knowing that the land had already been acquired by the government and so and so he sadly was developing something that belonged to the government and when the documents surfaced and then you have this new spin on a matter that really didn't need to be here."

Emil Arguelles, Attorney For Dion Zabaneh
"Both sides have now agreed that the government is the owner of the property, and compensation is where we are at in court and on the negotiating table. Basically right now the government has agreed that it is a matter of quantum only, as to compensation, so, ehm, it's government land at this point in time."

Jules Vasquez
"How does that make you feel as you've been having your eyes on this as your family's property for all these years?"

Dion Zabaneh, Case Dismissed
"Well, the fight continues Mr Vasquez, the fight continues. I will do whatever it takes. I will fight for the facts and the truth. And in this situation, I have been truthful and unfairness have happened to me and my mother and I can't sit back, I have to fight. She's 77 years old she don't have the fight but I have the fight in me, and I am ready to fight more, Mr Vasquez, have a good day."

Jeavon Hulse - Legal Counsel, Ministry of the Environment
"The land issue will be for a public good, the land has been acquired and hopefully something good come of it."

As Hulse noted, compulsory acquisition means it can now only be used for a public purpose.