Since Tuesday, we've been telling you about 24 year-old Keyren Tzib, the Coast Guard officer with the rank of "seaman" who shot her male colleague, Coast Guard Petty Officer Kurt Hyde on Easter Monday. Today, she went to the Supreme Court before Justice Herbert Lord to apply for an expedited bail hearing after being remanded to prison on Tuesday for the charges of attempted murder, dangerous harm and use of deadly means of harm.
Her attorney, Audrey Matura-Shepherd, served the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, with the application documents yesterday evening, and in just a few hours, the Supreme Court granted her an audience. She was seeking to invoke the amendment to the Crime Control and Criminal Justice Act in which an accused person does not have to wait 2 weeks in jail before their case can be heard. The condition is that if the defendant can show that he or she is of good character with no previous convictions then the bail hearing can be moved up to an earlier date. That's just what happened today, and in response, Crown Counsel Linbert Willis asked the court to grant him more time to be able to provide more information about the case to the Supreme Court. He told the court that the short notice was not enough time to get all the necessary details. One such important issue was the current medical status of the victim, Kurt Hyde, and what the doctors are forecasting about his recovery from the gunshot injury he suffered.
Instead of making a ruling on whether or not Tzib would get bail today, Justice Lord reserved judgment until next week Wednesday, and ordered that the accused remain in custody while he decided. It's not the immediate relief that Matura-Shepherd and her client were hoping for, and when we spoke with her outside of court, she discussed the points she submitted to the court this afternoon:
Audrey Matura-Shepherd - Attorney
"It was very simple. The 2014 amendment to the Crime Control and Criminal Justice Act provides that a person who seeks bail can apply immediately. Before, you had to give 10 days to the DPP for every offence, but now they are saying, no matter what offence you are charged under the Crime Control and Criminal Justice Act, you can waive that 10 days by showing to the court that, 1) you are a person of good character and you have no previous conviction. We showed the good character of our client and we show that she has no previous conviction. Therefore, the bail could have been heard today. That was the main contention of the crown, that they wanted not have a hearing today, because they wanted time to prepare to respond. For me, it's very simple. I've worked at the DPP's office and you have to work overnight, you have the resources to the State, they have access to the police, anyone they want to, to get an affidavit. An affidavit is the most basic thing and an attorney needs to be able to prepare and file. But they presented absolutely no evidence to the court. You all were in court. Other than ask for time and so based on that I think it was clear cut. We presented all the reasons why my client should be given bail. However, the judge heard everything and the decision would be until Wednesday. As you all heard, he ask for two reports: what is the state of the victim and what is the health of the prisoner in this case."
Justice Lord has ordered that the Crown provide a full report on Kurt Hyde's medical status, which Crown Counsel Willis says was difficult because he will receive surgery aboard the US Naval Hospital Ship which is current docked in Belizean waters. The judge has also ordered that a psychiatric evaluation be done on Keyren Tzib to determine her mental and emotional health. As we've told you, she has had a troubled past where she has pulled weapons on other persons before and been "medical boarded" twice for mental health issues. The military services commission was to review her file this week after the Coast Guard requested a transfer in 2013.
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