Bladen 12 Trial: Court Excludes Testimonies

The testimonies of three men in the Bladen 12 trial have been excluded from evidence.  Senior Magistrate Baja Shoman handed down her ruling of a voir dire that has been ongoing since last year.  The voir dire brought into question several statements given by Juan Espansa Sanchez, Armando Martinez, and Moises Perez.  According to the defense, these statements were given under duress and should not be accepted into evidence.  The senior magistrate ruled this morning, indicating that it does not appear that the men gave the statements voluntarily, and that it does seem that they were subjected to some degree of forceful persuasions.  With the voir dire now over, the substantive trial of the Bladen 12 will continue.  Attorney for several of the accused, Dickie Bradley, said that the court’s ruling has essentially dismantled the case against those three defendants.

Richard “Dickie” Bradley, Attorney: “What has happened is that there have been confession statements, if we could use those words, that were obtained from some of the accused persons. And myself and Lynden Jones were having a little short crack in that we have seen the photographs. In the case of myself and attorney Leroy Banner, he had gone to the Queen Street Police Station. I had also visited these said persons and they were bruised, battered and beaten. You can’t have bruises to your chest, to your side, to your back, to your batty, to your hand, your forehead and that is because you were taken down by the river edge by the police as they are claiming, oh yes we can’t deny the men don’t have bruises  but they get it because when we were carrying them by the river to look for the drugs, they fell down. What a coincidence that all the persons fell down. We are not surprised that the learned trial magistrate, Baja Shoman has arrived at that conclusion. But let’s make the point. The substantive trial is about to begin. You heard the magistrate. make reference to the fact that there are sixty odd witnesses in this trial. It is going on too long. She has put cut-off dates and cut-off dates. It’s going on too long. Justice delayed is justice denied. It means then, if that is the only evidence against those persons the case against them has just fallen to the ground flat.”

Reporter: Not just weakened? 
Richard “Dickie” Bradley, Attorney: “No, not just weakened.”

The prosecution is now preparing to call the arresting officer as its first witness.  It is expected that upon the continuation tomorrow, both sides will furnish the court with a list of its witnesses.  The Bladen 12 case dates back to November 2021 when a drug operation on the Southern Highway netted 1,682 pounds of cocaine, a drug plane, and multiple firearms.  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.