When Deputy Commissioner of Police Miguel Segura was involved in a fatal traffic accident with his police issued Nissan Pathfinder in August of 2014, the images of him, drunkenly buttoning his trousers, cigarette dangling from his mouth…burnt a hole in the national conscious.
As a consequence of that terrible accident, he was criminally charged with manslaughter and drunk driving, among other charges.
He walked away unharmed, but the passenger in the car he hit, 54 year-old Succotz resident Yolanda Valencia, died shortly after the crash. The impact left her driver, Yanie Cu, with severe head and bodily injuries, and it took Cu over a year to recover. Even now, he's reportedly not regained 100% of his mobility and is deeply indebted.
Segura has since been on interdiction from active duty, and he awaits a criminal trial in the Supreme Court. While that is yet to come, Segura, the Police Department, and by extension the Government of Belize, are all being sued by the Valencia family. They are seeking damages for the alleged negligence which caused the accident. Today, the parties showed up before Justice Shona Griffith for a pre-trial review, and our news team was outside to speak with one of the family's attorneys about the current status of the case. Here's what Kareem Musa told us right after the hearing:
Kareem Musa, attorney for the claimants
"This morning was the pre-trial review for the case of Guadalupe Valencia who is my client and 3 other children of Miss Yolanda Valencia, there are also claimants in this action against Deputy Commissioner of Police (I don't know if he still holds that rank), Miguel Segura, the government of Belize by extension. Because as you know on that morning Mr. Segura was driving a government issued motor vehicle and thus the government, in the event we are to succeed in our claim, would likewise be liable for anything that Mr. Segura may have done in their vehicle. So today was the pre-trial review. The attorney for the second, third and fourth claimants, Mr. Phillip Palacio made an application this morning that he would like to be removed from the record. So, in essence the other 3 claimants, the ones that I don't represent, they would to find a new counsel and that date has been put off to the 29th January. So that is the next court date when we will appear."
"Our contention, I don't want to go too much into the case or the merits of the case. But our contention is that on that morning, Mr. Segura was under the influence of alcohol which caused him to veer on to the left hand side of the highway which was the right hand side of Yanie Cu. He was the driver of Miss. Yolanda Valencia who was a passenger that morning. He drove into their path and there was a collision which resulted in the death of Miss Yolanda Valancia. So the claim today that I have brought is on behalf of Guadalupe Valencia, who is the mother of Yolanda Valencia and it is a claim for damages for the negligence that caused the accident that morning."
Reporter
"Is Miss Guadalupe looking for financial compensation and to what amount?"
Kareem Musa, attorney for the claimants
"Yes. As you know that will be an assessment that needs to be conducted by the judge. Yes, we are looking for a financial compensation for Miss Valencia. You see under the Tort Act, we are bringing this claim as a dependent. Miss Valencia was a dependent on her daughter. Meaning that she Miss Yolanda was the bread winner for the family. She use to take care of all the household and medical expenses for Guadalupe Valencia. So, there is a financial loss that has occurred as a result of this tragic accident and that is what we are seeking damages for - to ensure that Miss Guadalupe Valencia is now able to compensate for the losses she has suffered it since then, the accident."
It also made headline news that the residents of the Succotz Village rioted, blocked the road with burning tires, and stoned the police and fire officials trying the get the chaos under control. All that happened because the residents believed that the police department was protecting the former #2 cop.
Since that happened, it's been 1 year and 5 months and still, Miguel Segura has not faced his Supreme Court trial for the 6 criminal charges against him. Also, during that time, the civil suit from the family could have been statute barred if they didn't file it within 12 months of the time of the accident.
They did, and according to their attorney, Kareem Musa, they were waiting on the criminal case to conclude before moving forward with their lawsuit. Musa told us they must continue with their civil suit despite Segura's guilt not being established in a criminal court:
Kareem Musa, attorney for the claimants
"The issue when it comes to year is certainly you have to bring your claim before the year is up. Now initially we were waiting for the criminal prosecution to be completed. Normally that's the course you normally wait for. But in this instance that never took place. I don't know what's the status of the criminal investigation. I know as a matter of fact and it is now public record for you to see that the government has disclosed the entire prosecution file in the criminal investigation in this action and it is completely damning against Mr. Segura - damning. So I don't know where the criminal trial stands, but certainly we had that one year period that we had to file before and we were within that timeframe and so that is why now we can proceed and I believe that the trial will go on February 15th as plan."
Today, we spoke with the Director of Public Prosecutions, Cheryl Lynn-Vidal, who told us that Segura's criminal case has already progressed beyond the Magistrate's Court, and he was indicted to stand trial in the Supreme Court. The court now has to schedule his criminal trial. The civil case against Segura is expected to continue on February 15.
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