THE CASE OF A LICENED GUN , AND THE ERROR THAT SENT A MAN TO JAIL
By Anita Nembhard/Flowers
Belize City, Thurs. Feb. 11, 2021
Tonight a Biscayne businessman is free from two gun related offenses after the Belize Police Department claim he was not the holder of a valid gun license when his name did not show up in their system in Belmopan when he went to renew his gun license back in 2019.
He is 27-year-old Alberto Ishmael Honi Moralez of Biscayne Village.
This afternoon at around 12:00 noon, his attorney, Dickie Bradley explain how the police case against his client fell apart as his client did nothing wrong from the upset of going to renew his gun license as a businessman.
According to police, on March 22, 2019, Moralez kept 1 9 mm firearm and six live rounds of ammunitions and that he had no license to do so.
This is despite the fact that Moralez at the time of his arrest had documents to prove he had a license which he had paid $75.00 for and that the documents were legit just that when the officer check the record in Belmopan, they could not find his name despite a receipt showing he had a license a year prior to 2019.
Moralez was arraign in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court back in 2019 for kept unlicensed firearm and ammunitions and remanded to the Belize Central Prison due to the law when they claim he didn’t produce a gun license.
A day later through his attorney, Dickie Bradley he received Supreme Court bail.
At his trial today, Magistrate, Khadeen Palmer found him not guilty of both charges and set him free.
Dickie explain that in the trial, the police Firearm expert testified when Moralez came to renew his license he could not find any information for him in the record but the license appeared to be legit but because the officer was unable to find the information in the system, he asked Moralez to return the next day which he did where he presented documents to show with his social security card.
Attorney Bradley today explain that if Moralez was doing anything illegal, he would have not return a second day to be caught red handed.
Is there a glitch in the system asked Bradley in such a case? Or the error in his client case could have been man made.
He explained that the person who dealt with Moralez’s application a year earlier may have not put the information properly in the system which could have led to the error.
Prosecutor in the case today was Corporal Hilberto Ruiz who called four police witnesses to testify but unable to prove the two charges against Moralez.
At the end of the trial, Magistrate Palmer was not convince that Moralez was guilty of any offense hence why she acquitted him of the charges.
After two years of the matter lingering over his head, Moralez said he was happy to walk free.
He is now hoping to get back his gun and ammunitions which were taken in as exhibit by the police department.
“Attorney for accused businessman says he can sue Belize Police Department- His 9 mm pistol with rounds of ammunition confiscated for 2 years and today he walked free- He had genuine documents showing his license for which he paid $75.00 came from the system in Belmopan yet he was charged, denied bail in court and sent to jail”