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Bail for Paumen’s Employees
posted (January 22, 2016)
But that land lawsuit is just the prelude to a murder conspiracy, which is the real news tonight. As we reported, two of Bradley Paumen's employees, mechanic Lizburn Anderson and accountant Ian Skeen were charged with abetment to commit murder. They are accused of making arrangements for the alleged hit on Michael Modiri and another man on behalf of their boss.

They have been in jail on remand all week, and today the pair appeared before Justice Antoinette Moore were granted bail of $20 thousand dollars each. In the case of Anderson and Skeen, the application for bail was not met with heated objection on the part of the prosecution unlike in the case of Paumen - who is an American. Ian Skeen was represented by attorney Oswald Twist, and Lizburn Anderson was represented by attorney Dickey Bradley. At the end of the bail application Bradley spoke to us about some of the arguments he submitted as to why his client should be granted bail.

Dickie Bradley, Attorney
"This is no little teenager who is out here shooting at people and getting in trouble. He is a father, he is a mechanic. In fact he owns his own mechanic workshop, employs people. This is a responsible person. He has never been arrested before. He has never been convicted. This is not the person you want to throw in jail. This is not the person you want to keep in jail. There are children who have to go to school. They have to eat every day. The court takes that into consideration. The court looks at the nature of the offence, the allegations, what surrounds the allegations and the court looks at the circumstances surrounding the accused persons - what happen if I put you in prison? What happens if you are a person who have been before the court 3, 4, 5 times on violent allegations or you have convictions? There are factors a judge will look at when he s deciding whether or not to grant bail. Remember we use the word bail. But what you are talking about is the freedom of a human being."

Emanuel Pech
"You client maintains his innocence in this matter."

Dickie Bradley, Attorney
"Yes. I had an opportunity to speak with him briefly because bail application is not a review of the trial. It's not a trial, it's not a pre-trial. Bail is just to see what are the charges against a person whether or not I should give bail."

Emanuel Pech
"But speaking with him personally does he maintain his innocence?"

Dickie Bradley, Attorney
"A trial is coming up and he may have an opportunity at that stage."

As part of the bail conditions both Anderson and Skeen must surrender all their travel documents, they must report to the police station twice per week, they must attend court on every adjourned date and they must not interfere with the witness or witnesses involved in the case. The next adjourned date is set for April this year.

On a point of interest, we note that the firearms case involving Michael Mudiri was dropped after the DPP was satisfied with all the evidence presented. The firearm, allegations now have it, were planted in Modiri's vehicle allegedly by agents of Bradley Paumen. Paumen in his arraignment plead not guilty to the charge. The matter continues before the courts.

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