He was sworn in for the session of the court of appeal which began today.
The Court of Appeal has reserved its decision in the appeal of 32 year old Toni Pasos, a laborer of San Narciso Street, Orange Walk Town, who was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 17 years.
Pasos was charged with the murder of 51 year old Miguel "Chino" Medina, a resident of Orange Walk Town, who was stabbed 50 times in December of 2014. According to the evidence, Medina was lying on a mattress in his bedroom socializing with Pasos and two other men when he insulted Pasos and Pasos drew a knife and stabbed him.
Back in 2016, Pasos had already been convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 17 years by Justice Herbert Lord in a trial without jury. At the time, he was found not guilty of murder because it was a case of provocation.
So, today Pasos's appeal was only to reduce his sentence. His attorney, Hubert Elrington, appealed on the ground that the prosecution failed to give evidence as to what the provocation was, but admitted that it was extreme and that the trial judge should have imposed the minimum sentence. The Director of Public Prosecutions, Cheryl Vidal, submitted that the range for sentencing for manslaughter was 12 to 25 years.
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