Mendoza ordered to jail for blocking Adams’ access

| 18/05/2022 | 51 Comments
Cayman News Service
Lissa Lane when it was blocked by boulders

(CNS) UPDATED: The latest courtroom episode in the long-running land dispute between the family of former minister Mike Adam and their neighbours, Wilson and Deaven Mendoza, ended Tuesday with a judge sending Wilson Mendoza to jail for a week. But a number of conflicting legal issues meant he did not serve the time as the prison would not accept him given he had not been charged with a crime.

The bitter feud, caused largely by Mendoza’s refusal to accept the Adam family’s prescriptive rights to cross his land, finally turned in their favour after the court acted to uphold the law where other authorities have so far failed.

During the civil hearing, which related to Mendoza’s breach of a February court order directing him to stop blocking Lissa Lane and the Adam family’s vehicular access to their West Bay property, Acting Justice Alistair Walters told Mendoza that ignoring a court order was very serious. As he ordered him to serve seven days in jail, the judge warned him that it would be longer if he didn’t stop blocking the road.

The Adams’ right to access their property across land now belonging to Mendoza and other neighbours who have facilitated his relentless blocking of the road has existed for more than 40 years. In court, Waide DaCosta, who was acting for the Adam family, argued that Mendoza was fully aware of the implications of his actions when he breached the terms of the existing injunction.

During the more than five-year dispute the police have failed to enforce the law and protect the Adams’ rights, except for one isolated incident when the ordeal endured by the family almost came to blows. Even then the police opted to prosecute Adam and his son for using bad language and pushing Mendoza rather than dealing with the cause of the problem, namely Mendoza’s persistent and continued blocking of the right of way.

But on Tuesday the judge spelled things out for Mendoza.

Afterwards, Cindy Adam told CNS on behalf of her parents, Mike and Lissa Adam, “The judgment handed down yesterday gives us all hope that there is still justice in these islands and those going through a similar situation should not give up just yet. It may be delayed justice, but it’s justice nevertheless and all in God’s timing. As we remember Proverbs 3:5-6: ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight’.”

Thanking the community for their continued support from the beginning of this ordeal, Cindy Adam said, “It has not been an easy journey and there is still more to overcome but knowing that we do have the support and prayers of the community and our other long-standing kind and caring neighbours helps us to face another day and that this too shall pass.”

Focusing on her parents and looking forward to one day putting the entire case behind the family so they can “live in peace again as we once did”, she explained that the case was still moving through the courts and was in the “capable hands of our attorney, Mr Waide DaCosta”.

The family is continuing the fight to have this vehicular access declared a public road, as they believe this is the only sure way to get their troublesome neighbours to accept the vehicle right of way (VROW), which came with the property when the Mendozas bought the West Bay parcel where they now live.

The ruling has important implications for other cases of access rights that are winding their way through the courts, adding to the growing legal precedent and highlighting the need for government to address the significant remaining gaps in the laws relating to this issue.

CNS Note: This story was updated to reflect the fact that Mendoza did not serve any jail time. See the related story (soon to be posted) explaining what happened in this ongoing saga.


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Category: Courts, Crime, Local News

Comments (51)

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  1. Gina says:

    FINALLY the truth be told! I am glad CNS finally updated their page with the report of Mr. Mendoza ever being incarcerated. MR. MENDOZA!! You are gem however we can agree to disagree that those who see this updated story will continue to try find more lies to bank off of.

  2. Junior says:

    Not sure where he did his 7 days, pretty sure it wasn’t Northwatd lol

  3. Anonymous says:

    So unfortunate this has been going on for so many years and causing all sorts of problems in the community. Certain media House does a lot of biased reporting and fuel a lot of tension between the two parties. They do nothing to help the situation more than influence the community against the Mendozas and chastize the police for not getting involved in the Civil matter. The police do not get involved in civil matters – both parties must engage the services of an Attorney to represent their interest in the Civil Court. Unfortunately, none of them want to pay any money and tried to solve the problem on their own – looking for the police to help them solve their private matter. I am happy that they realize now that only the Civil Court can solve the problem for them and not the police.

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    • Anonymous says:

      It’s unfortunate that you have no idea what you are talking about. Clearly from the article the Adams have an Attorney. Very confused as Mendozas seem to think they can do this on their own as the other media house stated.

      Why don’t you help out your friend?

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  4. Anonymous says:

    They still fighting over land. Foolishness

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  5. Anonymous says:

    Despite the very one sided reporting here, it does seem there is a bit more to this.
    As I understand it, a VROW across a person’s land does not dictate its exact route, just that a route must be provided.
    Someone here on a previous story in this case said that Mendoza initially tried to move the route of the access so that it wasn’t through the middle of his plot, making it unusable, and that it was Adams flat out refusal to this request that kicked the whole sorry tale off.

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    • Anonymous says:

      For any changes both parties must agree.

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    • Anonymous says:

      1. It is suggested that before making comments you read the over 50 year old respective Land Registers and Land Register Map.

      These can be seen for free at the Land Registry.

      2. See also on the above records the 2019 Registrar of Lands Decision to Register the self-evident over 30 year long established Prescriptive Vehicular Rights of Way.

      After viewing these records then the facts can be understood to be self-evident.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    I understand it has always been Mendoza’s assertion that the vehicular right of way never existed when he purchased the land nor has it been proven to exist legally since. Apparently there are one or more alternative access points that Adam can use.

    I would like to see a map showing the access points from surrounding roads and the position of the lots and where the residences are built on those lots, to try and see if Adam’s conduct is reasonable or not in insisting on accessing his land via Mendoza’s.

    The injunction suggests that the court is siding with Adam, but is this the end of it, or just an interim step?

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    • Anonymous says:

      All of the records are public and available for anyone to see at Lands and Survey.

      If you really want to see the facts then just go there.

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      • Anonymous says:

        If it was as cut and dried as you claim, thus would have been clear to the various courts, and settled in law years ago.
        Therefore, it is definitely not as clear as you claim, and you are being misleading.

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    • Anonymous says:

      The hell has it got to do with you, Judge Judy?

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      • Anonymous says:

        Because Mendoza is being tried in the Court of Public opinion it seems…

        I side with Mendoza; the cam videos he has put up make the Adam family look like total jerk neighbours. No thank you and I don’t care who any of them are – it should have no bearing on this case whatsoever.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Mendoza was tried in a Court of Law based on factual evidence he does not deny.

          CNS: This is factually incorrect. Wilson Mendoza has not been tried in a court of law. The court order stemmed from a civil case.

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          • Anonymous says:

            Civil cases are heard in courts of law too.

            CNS: For the pendants: Mendoza has not been tried; he has not answered criminal charges in a trial.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Easements can Be created by Grant, implication, Necessity, or prescription. The lesson is always inspect carefully and inquire before purchasing property

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  7. Anonymous says:

    It could have not happened to a nicer person…

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  8. Anonymous says:

    This is a civil, not a criminal, issue. Where the police saw (heard) a crime, they prosecuted. And if there’s violence, presumably they will prosecute. But it’s not their job to oversee whether a civil judgment is being complied with or not.

    I’m not even sure they have power of arrest for contempt of a civil court. Perhaps a lawyer can enlighten us?

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    • Anonymous says:

      I’m not a lawyer but I sometimes play one on CNS. When a judge sentences you to jail for 7 days for contempt of court, the police (or is it a Bailiff?) in the court immediately take you to jail, no arrest necessary.

      If you have any doubts about this just show up in court for speeding and then proceed to give the judge some smartass comments, and see if he doesn’t send you to jail overnight to think about what you said.

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    • Anonymous says:

      The Judge did what Judges are employed to do.

      The Judge saw the evidence from both sides, then applied the applicable laws.

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  9. Anonymous says:

    Just wondering, could someone explain if this road has been there for 40 years, when Mendoza purchased the land shouldn’t the road be marked based on the prescription laws, thus the actual fault lays on the government for not updating this information?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Same issue with “Beach Access” not being recorded island-wide…..

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      • Anonymous says:

        AGREED!!!! This is why this case is SO IMPORTANT! Forget the names involved as it could be Curly, Moe and Joe……it’s the fact of taking away a LEGAL RIGHT of ACCESS!

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    • Anonymous says:

      This.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Not a road, a right of way. So it is (should be) shown on the land document when you pull a copy of that before you buy you property. No other markings needed. Therefore a right of way might look like pure bush, or it might look like a marl road, or a marl road people use might not be on a legal right of way. So prospective land purchasers have to check the land papers themselves. (And you can have pedestrian or vehicular rights of way.)

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    • Anonymous says:

      Umm, prescriptive rights exist independent of registration.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    The Commissioner of Police and his underling Denby Groves are complicit in this as the had many times where they could have dealt with Mendoza but instead chose to go after Mike and his family.

    The Governor needs to step in now in his role as the Commissioner’s boss and ensure that the law is carried out fairly and equally. this family has suffered for too long by Mendoza’s terror aided and abetted by the Police.

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  11. Anonymous says:

    Not saying this guy is right … but didn’t Adam and his family assault this guy and get off free. Would have thought assault warranted more jail time than putting some rocks on your own property!

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  12. Anonymous says:

    This is all well and good but the highlight was Sandra totally getting off announcing this ! Scary stuff tbh

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  13. Anonymous says:

    Finally! But seven days? It should have been at least 30 days for his “fire-starting” of this entire matter and inflaming it for years. Mr. Adam is a gentleman to put up with this crap so long, fisticuffs or not!

    Despite the fact that Mr. Mendoza bought his property years after Mr. Adam (yes, he came and found Adam there), XXXX

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  14. Anonymous says:

    Finally this unneighborly neighbor received what he deserves. The tactics of this man have caused much anguish and hardship to the Adam family who have used Lissa Lane since purchasing their home over 30 years ago.

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  15. Beaumont Zodecloun says:

    It’s about time some justice was served. I don’t think a week was nearly enough, however perhaps it will serve as a warning and cause a behavioural change.

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  16. Anonymous says:

    As the saying goes “time is longer than rope”. It is an outright shame that this issue has been going on for so long. I am glad that the judge has ruled in favour of the Adam family. However, he should have gotten a much longer prison time. I hope that while Mr. Mendoza is there that he will reflect on his life and realise that when he leaves this earth that piece of land will be left behind. Why wear yourself out while making others lives so miserable.

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  17. Anonymous says:

    In fairness, we also know there are those willing to engineer or restrict conveniences/access, or shortcut procedure, perhaps even unlawfully (like Calicos toilets or beach easements) and get away with those things for a very long period of time. Registered Survey records at Lands and Survey should be kept up to date, so they can be relied upon to be settle access and PLA disputes. Unfortunately those records are often decades out of date.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Exactly, so if government did not update, Mendoza is actually not doing anything unlawful…once again world class government strikes again…

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    • Anonymous says:

      Ask Mendoza to show his original land papers……

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  18. Anonymous says:

    FINALLY a sensible decision from the Cayman courts. Mendoza thinks he is above the law and acts like a bully. Next time give a month in northward to chill out!

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  19. Anonymous says:

    Amen.

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  20. Anonymous says:

    The sentence should be 7 years

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  21. Anonymous says:

    About bloody time.

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  22. Anonymous says:

    People who come here and flaunt our laws should be dealt with severely not only for their actions but as an example to others that it will not be tolerated.

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    • Anonymous says:

      But those from here who do the same should be ignored, like the Minister of Health and the Premier for example.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Oh for the love of GOD give it a rest.

      Anyone breaking the law should be dealt with in the same manner – or do you think otherwise? Who cares where he came from? A crime is a crime.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Ummm, because our immigration laws confirm that certain categories of miscreants be removed from Cayman, in addition to any other penalty they receive. Of course, we ignore that, but we shouldn’t. Where offenders are from is highly relevant in many circumstances.

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        • Anonymous says:

          The poster isn’t talking about deportation at the end of a sentence. They are referring to more severe punishment for the crime.

          If you think your nationality should impact your sentence, then I would disagree.

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          • Anonymous says:

            Of course it should effect your sentence. Foreigners should be deported on their early release date. Locals should go through the parole process. That is fair and cost effective, and removes an element of criminality from our shores as required by our immigration laws (that the police appear to refuse to read).

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    • Anonymous says:

      Interesting…do Planning and Lands and Survey not also have obligations to the public to correctly record what is registered and not in this land, including rights of way and easements? If slobs cut a speed bump by diverting across your front lawn, does that behaviour become prescriptive after 20 years? Are they allowed to then back up a mark truck and pave it to make it official? Do we want to protect prescriptively good, or embolden the prescriptively bad?

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