After 18 months remanded, P.C. Cantun walks: no case to answer in Daniel Tillett's beating death

by Roy Davis

Amandala BELIZE CITY, Wed. March 14

The Chief Justice, Abdullai Conteh, expressed his reluctance yesterday in upholding a "no case" submission in the trial of police constable Jesus Cantun, 28, charged with the murder of Daniel Tillett, 38, who was fatally beaten on September 21, 1999, while in custody at Belmopan Police Station.

Chief Justice Conteh extended his condolences to Tillett's family and pointed out that the circumstances in which he died reflected badly on the Police Department. He said he hoped that the police would further investigate Tillett's death, if only to let his family know how he died.

Cantun's attorney, Kirk Anderson, submitted that his client did not have a case to answer to because the evidence offered by the prosecution in court was not sufficient to send to a jury. Anderson contended that there was no evidence that Cantun had caused unlawful harm to Tillett.

Chief Justice Conteh concurred and directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty.
At the trial, the prosecution, represented by Crown Counsel, Rowan Phillip, had called 14 witnesses, among them police constable Marlin Casey and police constable Dennis Myles, who had accompanied Cantun when he took Tillett into custody. They both testified that Cantun took Tillett to the bathroom at the police station, but denied that they saw Cantun beat Tillett.

One witness, Dale Neal, who was detained in a cell at the police station, testified that he heard bawling and crying coming from the bathroom, as if someone was being beaten.
Cantun, in a statement he gave to the police that was admitted as evidence, denied beating Tillett and claimed that P.C. Casey stomped Tillett in his abdomen with his feet and then punched him twice in the same spot.

Daniel Tillett, a businessman of Roaring Creek, was taken into custody about 3:00 p.m. on Independence Day, September 21, 1999. He was at the plaza in Belmopan, celebrating. His wife, Elvira, their two children and his sister-in-law, Martha, were with him.

According to court evidence, the police received a report that Tillett, who was intoxicated, was behaving in a disorderly manner. Police constables Cantun, Casey and Myles went to investigate. They handcuffed Tillett and took him to Belmopan Police Station.

With the handcuffs still on the prisoner, P.C. Cantun took him to the bathroom at the station. At the trial, there was no evidence as to why Cantun took Tillett to the bathroom.

P.C. Casey testified that he stayed outside while Cantun was inside the bathroom with Tillett, and was later called by Cantun to assist in removing Tillett from the bathroom. When he went inside, the bathroom was wet and Tillett's clothes were wet.

Casey helped Cantun carry Tillett out of the bathroom and they put him in the corridor between the detention cells.

An ambulance was called and Tillett was taken to Belmopan Hospital. He was pronounced dead on arrival.

A post-mortem showed that Tillett died from abdominal trauma, secondary to a ruptured liver. Dr. Mario Estradabran testified that beating in the abdominal area could have caused the injuries that resulted in his death.

The circumstances of Tillett's death created such a bad image of the Police Department that it allegedly led to the removal of Ornell Brooks, who was the Commissioner of Police at the time.