Police have been investigating the death of 26-year-old Daniel Cal, the detainee who passed away at the Western Regional Hospital last Thursday. Cal was arrested for handling stolen goods but four days later, his family found him on the floor of the cellblock.
Minister Kareem Musa said preliminary reports suggested Cal had gotten a seizure, hit his head, and was taken to the hospital before being returned back to the cell. His family says they had no idea the condition Cal was in, but the ComPol told us today that the officers at the Belmopan station insisted they did inform the family.
Still, Cal was in their care during his detention, and he was found in a semi-conscious state dressed in only his boxers. We heard from Williams about their investigation.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"The National Forensic Service had requested that an x-ray be performed on the body to be able to ascertain whether or not there were signs of him having being physically abused by the police. And so we had taken the body to Orange Walk Town on Sunday night for the x-ray to be done and again the family was notified of this because we made sure that whenever anything concerning the body is done that the family is notified so that they don't think that we're trying to do anything to cover up. And the result of that x-ray revealed that there was no sign of violence on the body. Secondly, the postmortem examination was conducted yesterday and the result of the postmortem revealed that he died from acute respiratory distress due to alcoholism, I think cirrhosis of the liver and likewise the postmortem did not reveal anything to the effect that Mr Cal was physically abused by anybody."
"Mr Cal prior to coming into the custody of police does have a long medical history. He had been in and out of hospital i believe due to the illness he was suffering from and I think this is known by the family of Mr Cal. We have viewed the surveillance footage from the station and that too did not show anything to the effect that police had done him anything wrong. And so at this time we can say with a degree with certainty that Mr Cal's death was not caused by the police it just so happens that he took to his worse while he was in police custody."
"I must say the police in Belmopan had informed Mr Cal's family members of his illness while he was in the cellblock detained and the police had facilitated him going to the hospital on one occasion prior to the second occasion when he went and subsequently died."
"The family does have that entitlement, I can't take that away from them, I can speak ill of them for doing that. If they believe that their loved on was treated in some inhumane manner or if they believe the police had something to do with the death of their loved one then they have all right to take the matter to the courts and our duty then is to defend it and I believe we have substantial proof, even medical proof that the police did not cause his death."
And while the ComPol says their investigation is showing that the cops did not assault him, the family has lawyered up and may be taking the case to court.
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