Nicaraguan Surgeon Cleared After No-Case Ruling

A Nicaraguan doctor who faced a serious allegation is a free man. Fifty-one-year-old Doctor Carlos Soborio Coze, a general surgeon formerly employed at the K.H.M.H., walked out of the Belize City Magistrate’s Court on Monday afternoon after the Chief Magistrate upheld a “no case” submission from his attorney, Dickie Bradley. Coze had been accused of administering an obnoxious substance to a fellow doctor during a social gathering. But in her ruling, the Chief Magistrate said the prosecution simply didn’t prove its case. There was no clear evidence showing how, or even if, the substance was administered. The court pointed to major gaps: inconsistent testimony, unanswered questions about video footage, and no solid link between the detected substance and the accused. Without that key element, the act of administering, the charge couldn’t stand. So, just after 2:30 yesterday afternoon, the case was dismissed, and Doctor Coze was free to go.