CCJ upholds conviction in rape of a minor

On Monday, 9 December 2024, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) denied the special leave application of the applicant, who sought special leave from this Court to appeal his conviction for the offence of Rape of a Child. The CCJ upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal of Belize that affirmed the conviction by the High Court.

The victim, a child under the age of sixteen years, was raped by the applicant at his corn mill. His appeal was previously dismissed at the Court of Appeal, and he subsequently applied to the CCJ on the same two grounds that he did at the lower court. The first is that the trial judge omitted a crucial discrepancy between the evidence of the victim and the doctor who examined her and secondly, that the weaknesses of the Crown’s case were not sufficiently analysed and put to the jury.

In coming to its decision in relation to the first ground, the Court examined the sufficiency of the judge’s directions and found that there was no discrepancy between the medical expert’s testimony and the judge’s directions. As it pertained to the second ground, the Court also found that the trial judge’s summation was fair and balanced to both the prosecution and the accused, given that the jury was made aware of the inconsistencies and weaknesses presented by both sides. There was no basis for considering that the Court of Appeal erred in dismissing this ground.

For an application for special leave to succeed, the applicant must show that there is a realistic possibility that a (potentially) serious miscarriage of justice may have occurred, and/or a point of law of general public importance is raised (that is genuinely disputable). The Court was persuaded that neither of these two possibilities was present in this case.