Bladen 12 Drug Plane Case Adjourned Due to Lack of Legal Representation

The trial of the Bladen 12, the men who are accused of facilitating a drug plane landing in southern Belize, was adjourned today after all the accused showed up without legal representation. The matter convened in the specially appointed courtroom at the Charles Bartlett Hyde Building today before Magistrate Baja Shoman. However, attorneys Dickie Bradley, Linden Jones, and Leroy Banner were occupied in other courtrooms.  Love News understands that Bradley had informed the Senior Magistrate Baja Shoman that he had a matter before the High Court this morning. Jones had written to the court to inform that he had two matters, one in Corozal and the other in San Pedro, and that Banner would have filled in for him. Banner, however, had to write to the court this morning that his schedule had clashed with a matter before the high court. Prosecutor Alifa Elrington had objected to an adjournment but ultimately the matter was adjourned until August 20. The Bladen 12 comprise four former police officers, and eight civilians who were jointly charged with two counts of possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply, one count of conspiracy to land a plane at an unlicensed aerodrome, and one count of abetment of the importation of a controlled drug. The matter has been in voir dire (a trial within a trial) for several months