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 Editorials | Issues | April 2008 
Judge's Comments Came as 'Shock' to Brenda Martin
 CTV.ca News
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| | Jailed Canadian Brenda Martin is seen holding the hand of her lawyer at her hearing in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Monday, April 14, 2008. (Lisa LaFlamme/CTV News) | 
| | Jailed Canadian Brenda Martin busts into tears after learning the judge won't guarantee a ruling in her case by the end of the week on Monday, April 14, 2008. | | |
The lawyer representing Brenda Martin, a Canadian woman who has been imprisoned in Mexico for two years, said his client was shocked when a judge told her he could take up to 30 days to issue a ruling on her case.
Martin had hoped for a decision by the end of the week but was told by a judge on Monday not to count on it.
"Unfortunately it was a big shock to her. That news wasn't the best for her but I'm pretty confident at some point the judge is going to rule sooner than the 30 business days," Martin's lawyer Guillermo Cruz Rico told CTV's Canada AM on Tuesday.
He said he is worried about Martin's health: "I'm a little bit afraid about Brenda's condition because her mental and physical shape is not the best."
Martin, of Trenton, Ont., has been in jail on charges she took part in a fraud and money laundering scheme carried out by her former boss.
Martin, who was working as a chef, maintains she is innocent and had no knowledge of the scheme.
Cruz said the judge must review the entire case, including submissions from the prosecution and the defence, which was submitted just a few days ago, which will take some time.
However, he said he is confident the judge will rule in Martin's favour and she will be released.
After the ruling on Monday, Martin was visited by a Canadian consular official who asked her to sign a form allowing for a prison transfer to Canada if she were found guilty. She declined to sign it, believing it would be an admission of guilt, CTV's Lisa LaFlamme reported on Monday.
Cruz said Martin is waiting before she signs any such document.
"I think Brenda wants to wait until the decision is made because she believes, and actually I believe as well, that she is not guilty and if she is not guilty for sure she doesn't have to sign those papers," he said.
Cruz said the judge must review the entire case, including submissions from the prosecution and the defence, which was submitted just a few days ago, which will take some time.
Martin has been held in custody since February 2006. She is accused of knowingly accepting illicit funds from an Internet fraud scheme operated by Alyn Waage. Martin had been Waage's chef until she was fired.
Waage, in prison in the U.S., has issued an affidavit in support of Martin, who has long professed her innocence.
If found guilty, Martin faces a prison sentence of at least five years.
LaFlamme said there was "no direct evidence proving that Brenda Martin knowingly accepted illicit funds."
After she was fired by Waage, Martin was given $26,000, said CTV's Lisa LaFlamme. She invested $9,600 of that money back in Waage's company and he refunded $8,600 to her after her arrest. The money was refunded through a bank account in Belize, said LaFlamme.
"The prosecution is trying to say that because this money that she was given from Alyn Waage came from an offshore account she must have known that there was something illegal about it and that she tried to conceal it," said LaFlamme.
Martin claims she never knew or asked where the money came from. |
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