(CNS): David Lobo (35), a former customs officer who was convicted in January 2019 and is now serving a 16-year sentence for drug smuggling, is seeking a new lawyer to argue his appeal. Lobo’s challenge to his conviction was due to be heard by the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal on Friday, but the case was adjourned until later in this session when Lobo revealed he wanted to change his representation and also seek leading counsel. Lobo is trying to get his conviction quashed largely on the submission of an affidavit by a key crown witness and co-conspirator in the case recanting his evidence against Lobo.
Lesme Ruiz has now claimed that he was induced into giving false evidence by the former director of public prosecutions in exchange for a much lesser sentence for his own conviction. Ruiz, who is Venezuelan, was one of several men whom the crown alleged were involved in a conspiracy case in which they used South American gold artifacts as a front to smuggle more than two kilos of cocaine into the Cayman Islands in 2017.
Ruiz was sentenced to five years for his part in the conspiracy. Having been on remand since he was arrested in 2017, he was released from jail in 2020 after serving two thirds of his sentence, as required by law.
He was eventually deported after the pandemic stalled his removal from the island, but when he left he submitted a sworn affidavit to the court stating that he had lied during the trial at the direction of Patrick Moran, the DPP at the time. Ruiz...
Read Full Story: https://caymannewsservice.com/2021/09/appeal-stalled-as-lobo-seeks-new-lawyer/
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