Liberia: Justice Ministry to Handover All Evidence Against Scott
Former Chief Justice Gloria Musa Scott at the headquarter of the Liberian National Police last week after being questioned regarding the unknown assassin(s) who invaded her home on February 23.
…. Supreme Court upholds Criminal Court ‘A’ ruling in Charloe Musu’s murder case
The Presiding Chamber Justice of the Supreme Court has declined to issue a writ of certiorari prayed for by the Ministry of Justice against a ruling by judge Roosevelt Willie which ordered the ministry to make available all evidence in the “murder” case against Cllr. Gloria Musu Scott.
The Ministry, in its writ, had argued that it was premature for the Criminal Court ‘A’ judge to approve the defense team’s request for evidence when the trial has not yet begun. But Associate Justice Yamie Gbeisay disagreed and declined to issue the writ of certiorari as requested.
The decision by Justice Gbeisay, which indicates that the Ministry of Justice was wrong in challenging the ruling, now compels the handover of all of what are likely to be dozens of pieces of evidence, both oral and documentary, to the defendant’s legal team.
Justice Gbeisay’s decision is a serious blow to the Ministry of Justice which has mounted serious efforts to withhold the evidence, on which it relied to indict the defendants.
The defendants’ lawyers had however sought the evidence at the earlier stage to help them better prepare for the full commencement of the case.
Scott, together with her co-accused Rebecca Youdeh, Gertrude Newton and Alice Johnson, are indicted for murder, criminal conspiracy, and making false statements to law enforcement officers.
The accused have however vehemently denied the charges, claiming that the deceased was killed in an alleged armed robber attack on the home of Scott in the night hours of February 22 in the Township of Brewerville.
But the Ministry of Justice insists that Scott, a highly respected lawyer, conspired with other family members to carry out the heinous crime.
The former Chief Justice is currently in jail, at the Monrovia Central Prison, along with the other defendants. Their request for bail was subsequently denied by Judge Willie, on grounds that murder, by the law, is a non-bailable offense.
They claimed that their indictment was politically motivated and that the Ministry of Justice is letting go of the actual killer and prosecuting them.
Meanwhile, Willie has informed the Ministry of Justice that on July 14, he will read “the mandate of Justice Gbeisay, that gives him the authority to preside over the case.”
Willie had repeatedly advised the prosecution and defense not to create any situation that could delay the trial. It was based on this, he issued the 24-hour ultimatum last week to have the Ministry of Justice handover the evidence to the defense team after granting the “motion of discovery for evidence.”
But, in the middle of the enforcement of the ultimatum, the Ministry of Justice went running to the Supreme Court with a writ of certiorari, which Gbeisay has now denied.