Senior attorney draws similarities between the Elmer Nah and Oscar Selgado trials

As the high-profile trial of Elmer Nah continues in the High Court, senior attorney Dickie Bradley has drawn pointed comparisons between the current proceedings and the earlier Oscar Selgado case, citing similarities in evidentiary weaknesses that, in his view, raise serious concerns for the prosecution.  Bradley, speaking publicly on the matter, went as far as to assert that Elmer Nah is innocent of the charges he now faces. He argued that the prosecution’s case is undermined by significant gaps in evidence, leaving ample room for reasonable doubt.

Richard “Dickie” Bradley, Attorney: “Doctor Lynden Jones who holds a doctorate, he is the most highly trained human person in the Defense Attorney Group and he shares his view with us and in the issue of Elmer Nah who people inside say they know who is really the shooter, Nah is shown on a video when it is not Nah. Somebody is on a video kinda crippled or half crippled going to the gate to murder those people and we hope they find whoever did it and you know there should be an application for the death penalty for whoever did that. But the police can’t improve upon the image of the person on the video so that Elmer Nah can be vindicated. In this day and age can I tell you something ? Artificial intelligence is reading scrolls which have not been opened. They’re fearful of opening it because it’s so brittle and Ai is reading the whole scroll without you having to open it. We have reached a high level of artificial intelligence information and ability so my point is that if a man can be exonerated instead of looking at him as guilty and charge him he has a number of things that were in his favor and his attorney is a bit doubly concerned because he’s not quite sure that. There is a thing in the trial of people in this country, as in all other democratic countries, where there is doubt, if there is doubt then the doubt is given to the accused person not the other way around. If you have doubts that he’s the person on that vide and your doubts are reasonable he is given the benefit of the doubt. Every accused person.”

Nah is charged in connection with the triple murder of the Ramnarace family, a case that shocked the nation after three members of the family were brutally killed on New Year’s Eve in Belmopan. The killings, which occurred inside the family’s residence, sparked widespread public outrage and prompted an intensive police investigation, including the use of surveillance footage and witness statements.  However, according to Bradley, the evidentiary challenges in the Nah trial mirror those that proved decisive in the Selgado matter. In the Selgado case, the absence of eyewitness testimony ultimately became central to the court’s assessment and led to Selgado’s acquittal on appeal.  In the Nah trial, Bradley noted, the court has heard that a key prosecution witness is now deceased, and that the video evidence being relied upon by the Crown is grainy and does not provide clear facial identification.

Richard “Dickie” Bradley, Attorney: “There is a thing in the trial of people in this country, as in all other democratic countries, where there is doubt, if there is doubt then the doubt is given to the accused person not the other way around. If you have doubts that he’s the person on that video and your doubts are reasonable he is given the benefit of the doubt. Every accused person and so that trial has passed that phase. In the case of the Selgado matter a similar situation. There was a voir dire, they let in evidence that should not have been let in and as a consequence the man is found guilty. We have a big issue in front of us, it’s a huge issue, it comes at a bad time because everybody is scrambling to get their ham or turkey and marley and their curtain and so on but perhaps when this blows over and we’re back in a little saner context you can have these matters discussed for the benefit of the citizen of Belize. An unfair trial is a frightening situation.”

Bradley emphasized that convictions should not rest on speculative or inconclusive evidence, warning that the justice system must remain vigilant in protecting the rights of accused persons, even in emotionally charged cases.  The Selgado acquittal continues to serve as a reference point for legal analysts, highlighting the courts’ duty to carefully scrutinize evidence, particularly where witness testimony is absent or compromised.