In a landmark judicial decision, Belize’s High Court has determined that the state violated the constitutional rights of businessman Bradley Paumen through excessive pretrial delays spanning nearly a decade. Presiding Justice Martha Lynette Alexander delivered the ruling this month in case CV29 of 2025, declaring the nine-year postponement of Paumen’s murder abetment trial “plainly excessive” and constitutionally unreasonable.
The 68-year-old owner of Dark Night Cave Tubing Adventure Park in the Cayo District faced criminal charges since January 2016, accused of soliciting Jerome Crawford to murder four individuals: attorney Nazira Myles, businessman Michael Modiri, security officer Paul Wade, and potential witness Juan Shol. Despite pleading not guilty and remaining on bail, Paumen’s case languished in judicial limbo without progressing to trial.
Justice Alexander identified “sustained institutional inaction” as the primary cause of delays, particularly highlighting a four-year period from mid-2020 to mid-2024 when the case entered administrative paralysis following two judicial recusals. During this timeframe, the Director of Public Prosecutions encountered contradictory information from court officials regarding case assignment, despite repeated written inquiries and court attendance.
While acknowledging some delay attribution to defense-requested adjournments in 2019-2020 due to bereavement and illness, plus pandemic-related court disruptions, the court determined these factors accounted for less than two years of the total delay. The overwhelming majority stemmed from systemic institutional failures.
Paumen’s legal team, led by Magali Marin-Young SC and Allister T. Jenkins, sought comprehensive relief including constitutional violation declaration, permanent case dismissal, and compensatory damages for alleged business losses. The court granted only the declaration of rights violation and ordered expedited case management before Justice Creary-Dixon, mandating trial commencement within six months to avoid automatic case dismissal.
The ruling declined additional remedies, finding no proven connection between judicial delays and Paumen’s claimed business losses. In a concerning postscript, Paumen was recently hospitalized after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds during a home invasion at his Frank’s Eddy residence, with police detaining one suspect and pursuing two others.