The Two Faces of Justice

City of Belmopan, July 3, 2008 -  Today the public discussion continues in the case of three children who burned to death in their home in the San Martin Area of Belmopan last week Thursday. Their father, Francisco Hernandez, a single parent, left them home at around 11:00pm when he went to another house to make tamales which he was to sell at the market the following day. All reports indicate that the family had just returned from church, when he put the children to bed and left on his errand. A candle had been left lit in the home, which had no electricity, and speculation is that the fire was caused by the candle falling over and perhaps igniting the foam mattress on which the children slept. All three - 10 year old Francisca, 7 year old Heidi and 6 year old Nahim, were found burned beyond recognition near the front door of the home. Allegations are that the father locked the door with a padlock when he left, and the children were not able to exit the home. A medical examination has confirmed the cause of death as calcinations due to dry heat.

Francisco Hernandez remanded to prison

Francisco Hernandez, appeared in Magistrate’s Court and was charged with three counts of manslaughter by negligence. Bail was denied and he was remanded to the Hattieville Correctional Facility until August 8, 2008.

Since Tuesday, talk-shows have received calls from all over the country expressing horror at the deaths of the three children, but also very clearly expressing sympathy with the father in his time of grief. Many of those callers have said that they feel that the justice system was unnecessarily harsh, denying Hernandez bail and remanding him to prison. While all state that he should not have left the children home alone, all understand that he was only going out to make some tamales in the hope that he could sell them the following day and bring some money home to further care for the children.

Many Belizeans feel that the overwhelming reports by neighbours that Hernandez was a good father, a single parent, always in the company of his children, always struggling to care for them, should all weigh in the favour of his being granted leniency.

The Belize Times shares these opinions, and believes that in the case of Francisco Hernandez, grief-stricken at the loss of his three children in a tragic accident, Lady Justice was deaf and blind.

On June 15th, a little over two weeks ago, Ravell Gonzalez, the UDP Mayor of Orange Walk Town, was heading home to Orange Walk when the vehicle he was driving rammed into a two year old child and a 40 year old man between miles 35 and 36 - two fatalities in the blink of an eye. Police sources on the scene indicate that there was the strong scent of liquor inside the vehicle the Mayor was driving. The accident happened at around 6:30pm. For reasons we won’t speculate, the Mayor was not taken to be tested for alcohol concentration in his blood until almost six hours after, near midnight. Alcohol in the blood dissipates as each hour passes without further consumption. The Mayor was allowed to go home that same night without being arrested.

Mayor Ravell Gonzalez free with just a slap on the wrist

An unbelieving public was informed that suddenly, in contrast to all established protocol, the case would have to be sent to the DPP for that office to determine if the Mayor would face any charges. The Police sent the file, and we are reliably informed that they were seeking charges of driving without due care and attention, causing death by careless conduct, manslaughter by negligence and driving with a blood alcohol concentration above the prescribed limit. The Deputy DPP, Cheryl Lynn Branker Taitt, was having none of that, and sent the file back.

Fully four days after the Mayor killed those two persons, the Deputy DPP determined that he should be charged only with the causing death by careless conduct, a slap on the wrist considering the gravity of the situation and the indication that alcohol was involved. The Mayor wasn’t arrested, but was instead asked to present himself at the Police Station, where he was booked and then taken to Magistrate’s Court to face the charge of causing death by careless conduct. He was released on a paltry bail, free to go home.

The media and the public were appalled. In this case where UDP Mayor Ravell Gonzalez killed two persons and escaped with little consequence, Belizeans are speculating that Lady Justice was blinded by red shades.

The BELIZE TIMES expresses its condolences to Francisco Hernandez on the tragic loss of his three children. While it seems that justice has different faces for different persons, we can only pray that what we’ve seen so far are not the signs of things to come under this UDP administration.