High Court Faces Busy Criminal Session

The upcoming session of the High Court is expected to be a busy one for Justice Derick Sylvester, who today presided over a lengthy criminal call-up involving approximately twenty serious matters ranging from murder and attempted murder to rape, robbery, incest, and cyber-related offences.  Justice Sylvester, who is currently sitting on the High Court bench hearing both criminal and civil matters, dealt with a large slate of accused persons whose cases are expected to proceed during the upcoming court session.  Among those appearing before the court today were several men charged with murder, including Charles Brown, Dwayne Wite, Asband Grant, and Samuel Bolanos of San Pedro. Travis Flowers also appeared before the court in relation to the attempted murder of a Belize City traffic officer, while Corners Slusher is facing an attempted murder charge as well. Other matters called up included Christopher Rosado, who is charged with causing death by careless conduct, and Justin Ramirez, who is accused of grievous harm.  Several sexual offence matters also appeared on today’s calendar. Salvador Choc is charged with rape of a child, while Oscar Nal faces a rape charge involving a tourist in San Pedro. Samuel Bernardez is accused of raping an elderly woman. Johnny Sanariucia and Pedro Baki are both before the court on charges of unlawful sexual intercourse, while Wayne Anthony faces an incest charge and Fernandito Botes is charged with sexual assault of a child.  The court also called up the matter of Jair Alcoser, who is accused of using a computer system to transmit nude data. Meanwhile, Christian Ramos and Trevor Lopez appeared jointly on a robbery charge connected to an incident in San Pedro, and Vanessa Good remains before the court on a charge of use of a deadly instrument.  Crown Counsel Maria Nembhard-Santana from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions appeared on behalf of the prosecution in the matters.  The cases are expected to continue before Justice Sylvester during the upcoming High Court session in Belize City.