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Accused of Killing Boyfriend, Woman Gets Off Manslaughter
posted (May 16, 2013)
A jury acquitted 26 year-old Leshawn Lino of manslaughter last night in Justice Adolph Lucas's courtroom. Lino was accused of slicing her boyfriend, 23 year-old Shamir Henry, on his throat which caused his death on September 2, 2010.

Well, Lino stood trial before Justice Lucas, and a just after 7:30 p.m. last night, she got a not guilty verdict from the jury after a little less than 2 and half hours of deliberation.

We got a chance to speak with both Lino and her attorney, Brian Neal, after they got the positive outcome. Neal told us that there were too many loose ends that the prosecution couldn't tie up, and that evidence came out that Henry had abused Lino. Here's how that conversation went with both of them.

Bryan Neal, Attorney for the Defense
"Well we had put forward three defenses, first was that it wasn't the accused who in fact inflicted this wound, the second was the defense of accident, and third defense was self defense."

Daniel Ortiz
"So can you explain to us the rational behind those three defenses Sir, it seems a bit strange that you would offer them a choice, conceading that she might be guilty of inflicting the injury but not of an actual legal criminality?"

Bryan Neal, Attorney for the Defense
"Well as you know the constitution allows you to defend yourself if you are under threat. What came out in the court was that the deceased was beating the accused; he had punched her in the head, kicked her in the stomach and on her c-section cut and produced a knife and was about to stab her and it was when he was going to do that, that she defended herself. The primary defense was that she was not the one who inflicted the wound, in fact the doctor's under cross examination said that the deceased might have stabbed himself. So it was never clear whether the accused was the person who inflicted the wound and as such I believe the jury must have felt that they were not sure that she was the one who inflicted the wound and such they return a not guilty verdict. But let me just say, that in the context of what we are seeing in the society where women and under threat - we saw a mother Felicia Chen - which we are very pleased with the verdict because it sends a very clear message to men who believe that they can beat women, that women can defend themselves, and we are very happy that the jury saw it that way and sent a clear message to the society that women beating is not tolerable in Belize"

Daniel Ortiz
"Okay so how strong was the evidence that Ms. Lino was being abused by her common law husband or boyfriend?"

Bryan Neal, Attorney for the Defense
"Well even the Mother of the deceased was saying she knew that the accused, well not the accused anymore, Miss Lino, was in a domestic abusive relationship so it was very clear that all along, for years he had been beating her very badly."

Daniel Ortiz
"This case has been hanging over your head; how long have you been dealing with this?"

Leshawn Lino, Acquitted of Manslaughter
"Wow, approximately almost three years"

Daniel Ortiz
"And what emotions are you going through now; now that it is over?"

Leshawn Lino
"Well now that it is over it's a big weight that was lifted off my shoulder. It was very difficult. I have never been in this position before so it's very terrifying and you really need to be strong and I have really good moral support and family around so they made it a bit easy just trying to be very supportive."

Daniel Ortiz
"How about your kids, I mean you risked having to go to prison and they would have been without their mother?"

Leshawn Lino
"Wow, I am sure they will be very happy to see me when I reach home"

Daniel Ortiz
"So what's the next step for you? How are you going to rebuild your life after going through something like this?"

Leshawn Lino, Acquitted of Manslaughter
"Wow, well I was thinking about some counseling and try to rebuild and doing different steps in trying to get back a normal routine."

Lino has 3 children, one of which she shared with Henry.

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