In March of 2023, motorcycle enthusiast and delivery man, 19 year old Dyandre Chi was pursued by the police, and later shot and killed during the chase on the outskirts of Orange Walk town.
Today, the two police officers who were detained in connection to his murder, Salomen Cowo and Esmin Flores were offered High Court Bail in the sum of $20,000.
The crown had a heavy objection towards the bail given that the trial for Chi's murder is expected to commence in September. And with that Justice Sylvester offered the cops bail - but ordered that it won't take effect until December 2024 and only if they are not given a trial by that time.
One must note that bail is not normally granted to a defendant unless they have been on remand for three or more years. Today's circumstances are rare and have not occurred in decades. Attorney Richard Dickie Bradley further explained the outcome of today's proceedings.
Dickie Bradley, Attorney
"The two police officers Solomon Cowo and Esmin Flores were charged for murder four days after that shooting. And they, in fact, were given disclosure only about two months ago, and they agreed to proceed to a preliminary inquiry without legal representation."
"And so a preliminary inquiry was held, and their matter would normally end up on the list for the September cases, not necessarily for trial. And there were many, many, many more cases before then, but it had concluded in the preliminary inquiry and is now basically heading for a high court in Orange Walk jurisdiction."
"Being police officers, they are a bit familiar with the law. They were able to reach out to the legal aid services where former prosecutor Cherine Rodriguez, and I think she was a former magistrate, I remember going to San Pedro in front of her, and to be director of the legal services was in court."
"The matter is this, that today, for us attorneys on the defense side, marks a significant step forward."
According to Bradley, the last time a police officer charged for murder was offered bail in the High Court it was Jesus Marroquin.
Bradley also secured his bail.
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