Trial of Bladen 12 Resumes with Testimony Amid Allegations of Police Brutality

The trial of the Bladen 12 will take a long break after today and resume in May. The men who are charged with facilitating the landing of a drug plane in November 2021, appeared in court today before Senior Magistrate Baha Shoman. The matter is still in voir dire a trial within a trial and taking the stand today was police corporal Rodro Muschamp, who was a part of the operations the night the men were arrested. In the voir dire the defense is challenging the caution statement given to police by several of the accused including that of Moises Adan Perez. Perez and the others allege that police beat them severely and forced them to confess. Attorney Richard Dickie Bradley said that Muschamp’s testimony is critical to the case, as he is one of the officers who is said to have beaten the accused.

Richard “Dickie” Bradley, Attorney: “The allegation against him by some of the defendants is that he is the one that beaten. He kicked, stomped, he beat the man bad. I will not release the photographs and the medical papers. I will speak to attorney banner about this matter but this is more than just this case. The law in our country is that you cannot use anything obtained from an accused if you will threaten, promised anything, coerced and worse if you were beaten and tortured. And it is very clear on that matter. The judges for when all my hair was black they’ve always upheld this important principle. That is why you hear we ask if they even explained to the people in Spanish what voluntary means because when you say somebody “you agree to give a caution statement ?” they might not know what is a caution statement. A caution statement is you’re sinking yourself. So it is important. If you’ve been around the block like me and you had hung out at Wagner’s lane and on the street side you will know as I said in court no police ever, ever comes to court and said “Yes your honor I kicked him in his mouth.” , “Yes your honor I knocked out his teeth.”, ” It was me who burned his testicles.”, never never. So we are not surprised, we are not gullible. He will come and say that. What did he give them water for ? The man said “he gave me water to wash my face because I was under blood.” No mark is on his forehead, he burst his nose. They have pictures, they didn’t beat themselves man. A man’s butt is burst right up,  he didn’t beat himself. In fact when they went to court just two or three days afterwards they made the complaint and showed the matter and the police had taken them to hospital. So it’s not a wild allegation.”

The trial has been adjourned to May 27, and the senior Magistrate has ruled that the voir dire must be concluded in that week, so the substantive matter can be addressed. The men, eight civilians and four former police officers, are charged with two counts of possession of controlled drugs 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 controlled drugs.