By Breaking Belize News Staff: Twenty-year-old Dorian Denver Anthony has been acquitted of the murder of Trenton Webster after the High Court ruled that the Crown’s only incriminating evidence was inadmissible.
The decision was handed down Friday morning by Justice Nigel Pilgrim, who excluded a prior inconsistent statement given by the Crown’s sole witness, ruling that its probative value would unfairly prejudice the accused. With the statement ruled inadmissible, the Crown conceded it had no other evidence and closed its case.
Anthony’s attorney, Lynden Jones, immediately made a no-case submission, arguing that there was no identification evidence, no forensic or circumstantial evidence, and no contemporaneous proof linking his client to the shooting. Justice Pilgrim upheld the submission and entered a verdict of not guilty, bringing the four-day trial to an end.
In delivering his ruling, Justice Pilgrim observed that the witness appeared terrified while testifying but noted that the court could not determine the cause. He also pointed to the need for the long-standing Witness Protection Act—on the books since 2006—to be operationalized to ensure fearful witnesses can give evidence safely.
Webster, 42, was gunned down outside his Rasta Street home on the night of October 19, 2023. Anthony was 18 at the time he was charged. During the trial, the Crown’s main witness—Webster’s then wife—recanted her 2023 police statement and denied seeing the shooter, prompting the Crown to treat her as hostile. The court ultimately declined to admit her earlier statement into evidence.
This acquittal marks the second murder charge Anthony has walked free from. He is, however, still awaiting trial for a third murder in the Belmopan area.
The post Dorian Anthony acquitted in Trenton Webster murder appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Breaking Belize News Staff: Twenty-year-old Dorian Denver Anthony has been acquitted of the murder of Trenton Webster after the High Court ruled that the Crown’s only incriminating evidence was inadmissible. The decision was handed down Friday morning by Justice Nigel Pilgrim, who excluded a prior inconsistent statement given by the Crown’s sole witness, ruling
The post Dorian Anthony acquitted in Trenton Webster murder appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.