OTTAWA – Brenda Martin will have to wait a few more days before her legal fate is decided.
A Mexican judge is expected to rule Tuesday on the jailed Canadian woman’s case. Manuel Guevara Ortiz, the attorney general of Jalisco state in Mexico, told reporters in Guadalajara the verdict will be delivered at 2 p.m. local time. Heriberto Estrada, a prosecutor working on the case in Mexico, declined to discuss the case until a verdict is issued, saying it wasn’t appropriate to comment until that time.
“We can’t comment on or suggest any judgment until we have a verdict,” he said.
Judge Luis Nunez Sandoval had originally promised a verdict by Friday, but then said at a hearing this week he has up to 30 working days to issue his ruling.
Martin’s Toronto-based lawyer, Guillermo Cruz Rico, says there’s no truth to some media reports that the delay arose from his client asking for the verdict to be translated into English.
“That is not true,” he said in an e-mail.
Martin, 51, has been jailed near Guadalajara since February 2006 when Mexican authorities arrested her in connection with an Internet fraud scheme run by her ex-boss.
She has steadfastly maintained she knew nothing of the scam masterminded by Alyn Waage that bilked 15,000 investors out of nearly US$60 million.
Waage, currently serving a 10-year sentence in a U.S. federal prison, has sworn an affidavit saying his former cook was oblivious to his crooked dealings.
Canadian and Mexican officials are believed to be eager to resolve the matter before the end of next week’s meeting between Prime Minister Stephen Harper, U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon in New Orleans.
