In September 2014, Belize City resident Michael McDougal was arrested and charged for keeping a firearm without a gun license, discharging a firearm in public, belonging to a criminal gang and causing public terror. The incident occurred on at BTL park, where police say McDougal fired shots in the air and then threw the .38 pistol underneath a red SUV when they arrived.
McDougal appeared in the Magistrate's Court today where the charge of belonging to a criminal gang was withdrawn, and he was found not guilty of causing public terror. McDougal was however, found guilty of keeping a firearm without a license and discharging the firearm in public. This was after McDougal's attorney, Christelle Wilson, argued that there was no forensic evidence linking her client to the case, and that no attention was brought to the allegation that police beat McDougal during his arrest.
Still, despite the discrepancies, Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith said that she could not discount the evidence the police had provided. McDougal was remanded into police custody until tomorrow, when his attorney will make a plea for mitigation.
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