Tonight, Police Officer Burton Caliz Jr., who was convicted of manslaughter for the February 2004 shooting death of 23 year-old Leroy Pilgrim, is spending his third night a free man after his mitigation hearing, which ended with a fine instead of a prison sentence.
As we told you, Caliz was initially charged with murder, but it was reduced to manslaughter, for which he was convicted in January 2007. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but he appealed and won after serving only 1 year and 2 months.
He stood trial a second time before Justice Troadio Gonzalez in September of this year, and he was once again found guilty, but this time of manslaughter by negligence.
His trial has been a particularly high-profile case because the issue came up that a police officer used unjustified deadly force against a civilian, and on Friday, more than 9 and a half years later, Caliz escaped extended jail time.
It came after a mitigation hearing held on Thursday, in which he called character witnesses in his favour. His attorney, Dickie Bradley, submitted that the court had to take into consideration that Caliz has already served time in prison. This is, Bradley added, in accordance with findings from the Caribbean Court of Justice.
After considering all the evidence put forward before him, Justice Gonzalez ruled that Caliz will pay a 3 thousand-dollar fine. More than that, Justice Gonzalez recommended that Caliz - who had allegations inappropriate behaviour while in authority - should reapply for his job as police officer.
Caliz must pay this fine by January 2014.
So, with that, a case which stirred great unrest among the public, goes away quietly.
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