By Breaking Belize News Staff: Convicted robber Robert Arnold’s attempt to overturn his conviction and four-year prison sentence has failed after the High Court dismissed his inferior appeal.
Late Tuesday evening, Arnold left the courtroom visibly disappointed after Justice Candace Nanton upheld both his conviction and sentence for robbery.
Arnold, a familiar figure to the courts and police, was previously convicted of robbery and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. He is currently serving that sentence while also awaiting trial for a separate murder charge alongside another accused.
In his appeal, Arnold challenged both his conviction and sentence. He argued that he did not receive a fair trial and that the four-year sentence was excessive and harsh. Among his grounds of appeal, he claimed that the Learned Trial Magistrate failed to assist him while he was unrepresented, convicted him without an identification parade being conducted, admitted a photograph into evidence that he argued was irrelevant, and sentenced him on the same day he was found guilty without allowing him time to call character witnesses.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, in submissions on behalf of the Crown, maintained that the evidence against Arnold—though circumstantial—was sufficient to ground a safe conviction. The Crown noted that Arnold was captured minutes after the robbery and placed in the pan of a police mobile truck, where he was later seen by the victim he had allegedly robbed. While acknowledging that this may have impacted the identification process, the Crown argued that Arnold did not contest photographs entered into evidence showing injuries he sustained during the robbery.
During his trial, Arnold denied being the culprit and claimed he was elsewhere at the time of the robbery. He told the court that he had been at home with his girlfriend, where they got into a domestic dispute. He said he left the house afterward and was detained by police as a robbery suspect. Arnold maintained that visible injuries to his head and bleeding were the result of the altercation with his girlfriend, not from any robbery.
In delivering her ruling, Justice Nanton stated that while Arnold raised several grounds challenging both conviction and sentence, she did not find the sentence to be manifestly inappropriate. Although she acknowledged that Arnold should have been given time to call character witnesses, she concluded that this flaw did not render the sentence harsh or excessive.
As a result, the appeal against both conviction and sentence was dismissed, and Arnold was escorted back to the Belize Central Prison to continue serving his four-year term.
At the appeal hearing, Arnold was represented by attorney Abibi Moguel.
The post High Court dismisses Robert Arnold’s appeal in armed robbery case as he awaits sentencing for murder appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Breaking Belize News Staff: Convicted robber Robert Arnold’s attempt to overturn his conviction and four-year prison sentence has failed after the High Court dismissed his inferior appeal. Late Tuesday evening, Arnold left the courtroom visibly disappointed after Justice Candace Nanton upheld both his conviction and sentence for robbery. Arnold, a familiar figure to the
The post High Court dismisses Robert Arnold’s appeal in armed robbery case as he awaits sentencing for murder appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
