One month ago we told you about 25 year-old Natalie Coleman, who was sent to prison for 5 years after she was convicted of illegally possessing four 12-gauge shotgun cartridges.
She was charged jointly with her boyfriend, 22 year-old Randy Dominguez, but Dominguez's attorney was able to get the charge withdrawn when they presented to the court that he was not present at the time of the search.
And so, Coleman stood trial alone for the ammunition discovery and in her defence, she told the court that when the police conducted the search, she was only present because she was visiting her boyfriend.
Still, she was the only one there and the Magistrate gave her 5 years in prison. IT seemed unfair to a group of citizens and now they are working to get her free. Darrell Carter told us more:..
Darrell Carter
"Natalie Coleman is a woman from Biscayne who is 7 months pregnant, 23 years young and is spending 5 years in prison primarily because they raided her house and found 3 cartridges in her home in Biscayne. We have a group of people who have looked at that and seen that as an unjust situation. I recall the statement of Thomas Jefferson when he says that sometimes what the state is about to do turns out to be more a deterrent rather than good and in this case we can see clearly that it is an unjust law; it's an unfair law and a bad law that needs to be repeal."
Daniel Ortiz
"What are the circumstances in Ms. Coleman's case which makes it important and imperative that her application succeeds?"
Darrell Carter
"Primarily what makes it important is that it can happen to anyone of the 350,000 plus people who lives in Belize, any circumstances in which a bullet find in or around the premises or what have you, you can spend a lot of time in jail. That is a bad law and needs to be repeal."
Daniel Ortiz
"No one comes to court and accepts guilt and the police have been latitude in this case because many times they come to court and they get away with knowing that bullets or weapons are on their premises but because it's not in their possession they are saying they don't claim it. The police have been latitude in this particular law."
Darrell Carter
"That is true, but it's still a bad law and it still needs to be repealed. What they set out to do is to deal with the crime situation but you cannot legislate you way out of crime and legislate your way out of what is happening in Belize. The attorneys have the legal jargon to deal with this and I guess Anthony Sylvestre and Dickie Bradley will deal with that but as simple as it is, it is a bad law."
In her bail application today, Anthony Sylvester, attorney for Natalie Coleman, submitted to the court that Coleman should be granted bail because she has a realistic prospect of success, and because of her pregnancy.
After listening to both the prosecution and the applicant's attorney, Magistrate Dale Cayetano granted her bail of $5,000.
Late this evening, Carter went up to the Prison to get her released, so tonight, she is at home with her family, while she waits for her appeal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrhIXWTBvMo&feature=youtu.be
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