He's a Crown Counsel in the Attorney General's Ministry, and a former mayor of Orange Walk Town, but tonight Ravell Gonzalez guilty of knocking down 2 persons and causing their deaths by careless conduct. That's the verdict that a jury of 9 handed down this evening after 3 hours of deliberation.
The incident happened on at around 7:30 p.m. on June 15, 2008, between miles 35 and 36 on the Phillip Goldson Highway. The jury heard evidence that Gonzalez was driving his Dodge Caravan, heading towards Orange Walk. That's when he knocked down and killed Manuel Coto and his 2 year-old toddler Martita Lopez. Coto was walking the bike, while the toddler was sitting on it.
In his defense, Gonzalez told the court that he was temporarily blinded by a light of a vehicle coming in the opposite direction. After deliberating the evidence presented on both sides, the jury found Gonzalez guilty of both counts of causing death by careless conduct.
After hearing his mitigation plea, Justice Troadio Gonzalez, sentenced him to pay fines to a total of $8,000, and compensation to the family of the 2 year-old toddler who was killed. Gonzalez was represented by attorney Tricia Pitts-Anderson, and Crown Counsel Sheneiza Smith represented the prosecution.
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