BELIZE CITY, Tues. Oct. 23, 2018– In March 2017, in a trial without jury, Supreme Court Justice John “Troadio” Gonzalez delivered a not guilty of murder and attempted murder verdict in the case of the Queen v. Calaney Flowers.
Flowers, 31, was indicted for the August 2012 murder of Lyndon Morrison, 29, her baby’s father, and the attempted murder of Morrison’s new girlfriend, Sochyl Sosa, who was pregnant at the time and suffered a miscarriage as a result of the incident. Flowers waited an additional nine months in prison, after her trial had concluded, before the not-guilty verdict was delivered.
The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions appealed Flowers’ acquittal, but by the time the case was called up at the Court of Appeal, Flowers had already left the country and was living in the United States.
Yesterday, Monday, the Queen v. Calaney Flowers case came up for mention at the Court of Appeal, and the court was updated by Senior Crown Counsel Sheiniza Smith, who told the court that Flowers, who was in the custody of the US Immigration and Customs (ICE) because of a visa issue, was released in August and was given until December 6 to leave the US.
No date has been set as yet when the court will hear the appeal, because Flowers first has to be served with the appeal papers.
Because Flowers has been acquitted of the two indictments, murder and attempted murder, she will not have to be held in custody when she arrives back in Belize. Flowers, however, will have to secure the services of a lawyer to defend the appeal against her acquittal.
If the DPP succeeds in convincing the Court of Appeal to set aside Flowers’ acquittal and order a new trial, she will be immediately taken into custody and taken to the Belize Central Prison, where she will await the date of her new trial at the Supreme Court.
On the other hand, if the DPP is unable to convince the Court of Appeal, then the DPP’s option will be to seek permission for a final appeal to the Caribbean Court of Justice, Belize’s final appellate court.
Flowers had already spent almost five years on remand before her case was tried.
Flowers had been defended by attorneys Dickie Bradley and Arthur Saldivar.