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Tue, 03 Sep 2024 Feature Article

Liberia: The Supreme Court Decision In The Charloe Musu Murder Case

Liberia: The Supreme Court Decision In The Charloe Musu Murder Case

The Liberian Supreme Court ruled on August 28, 2024, on the Charloe Musu’s murder case. This was a high-profile case involving a former Supreme Court Chief Justice and three co-defendants. The former chief justice was an important member of the ruling Unity Party (UP) and the Liberty Party (LP). Both parties were of the opposition in the 2023 Liberian Presidential election. The court‘s ruling overturned the lower court’s verdict and freed the defendants. The high court’s decision has received mixed reactions. The verdict ends the case, which this writer has covered since the beginning of the matter.

BACKGROUND
Charloe Musu (Pictured), a lady in her 20s, was murdered on February 22, 2023, in the home of her traditional mother, Counselor Gloria Musu Scott, former Liberian Supreme Court Chief Justice. The report indicates that the killer stabbed Charloe multiple times. The victim was a graduating senior from Starz University in Liberia. Gloria Scott is also a former Justice Minister, Liberian National Elections Commission Chair, and Senator. She is a famous lawyer and as stated above, a legal advisor to UP and later to LP. After the murder, she reported to the police that an intruder killed the victim. She also reported using pepper spray on the intruder before he escaped. Scott did not initially report the incident to the police. She maintained that the police did not seriously attend to two previously attempted robberies/attacks at her compound.

On June 21, 2023, the Liberian National Police (LNP), through the Justice Ministry, arrested Mrs. Scott and three ordinary Liberians, namely, Gertrude Newton, Alice Johnson, and Rebecca Wisers "for murder, criminal conspiracy, and false reports to law enforcement officials” regarding Charloe Musu. Besides of the victim, they were the only individuals in the house on the night of the murder.

On June 22, LNP detailed the arrest, indicating that there was no intruder in the house by their investigations. That the Defendants killed Charloe, conspired, and reported to LNP that an intruder murdered the victim." LNP’s investigation also found blood stains in Scott’s private bathroom. The counselor and her family lived in a 13-foot-high fence compound, which professional security men guarded. Further, dogs were protecting the yard. Hence, it would be difficult for an intruder to enter and, after being pepper sprayed, escape from the place.

The case was on trial for four months. The Defendants hired a team of over 34 lawyers considered "some of the best legal minds in Liberia." It included two former associate Supreme Court judges and Cllr. Augustine Fayiah, the group lead lawyer. The persecution team included Cllr. Lafayette B. Gould, an experienced lawyer. The State produced 20 witnesses while the Defense had 11, including Cllr. Scott. Pathologists from both sides testified. The jurors visited the crime scene and saw the bloodstains in the bathroom and the fortification of the compound.

On December 21, 2023, the jurors found the defendants guilty. The verdict was unanimous. On January 9, 2024, the court sentenced them to life in prison.

THE SUPREME COURT DECISION
The Defense lawyers appealed the Jurors’ verdict to the Supreme Court. In July 2024, the court heard the case. Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Kabineh M. Ja’neh, representing the Defense, argued that the state failed to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt’, that the prosecution based the case on circumstantial evidence, and that the State failed to indicate the specific person of the defendants who killed the victim.

Cllr. Bobby Livingstone, the lead lawyer for the State, responded that the state used circumstantial evidence since “no intruder was discovered during the commission of the crimes”, and “since defendants failed to point out who did the killing”. Therefore, “by circumstantial evidence, we will hold all [of] them.”

The high court agreed with the Defense, saying that the State lacked sufficient evidence and that “the prosecution of the case was based on presumption and assumption without establishing any evidence” [that links the appellants to the crime.]

Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene Youh read the Court’s ruling below.

“WHEREFORE, AND IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, the final ruling of the trial court confirming the verdict of the jury is hereby reversed. The appellants, Gloria Musu Scott, Ma Rebecca Youdeh Wisner, Getrude Newton and Alice Johnson are ordered immediately released from further detention at the Monrovia Central Prison and their civil rights, liberties and all other constitutional and statutory rights are hereby immediately restored. AND IT IS HEREBY SO ORDERED.”

Upon the ruling, a crowd of defendants’ supporters, considered family members, friends, supporters, and UP members, jubilated. However, the decision received mixed reviews.

Most of the reactions were political; that the former ruling party, CDC, imprisoned Scott but UP freed her. Some cheered the Supreme Court, while others stated that the Court ruled favorably for the Defense because of Scott, who was a part of the Court. They said that justice was not served and that defendants would not be at peace. The media carried individuals’ views expressed below.

John Morlu, former Auditor General wrote: “The death of a little girl in the CDC and UP political arena, an endless battlefield, is a heartbreaking tragedy that highlights the unfortunate reality that in Liberia, politics often triumphs over fairness and justice. While the parents grieve in sorrow, politicians continue to argue and point fingers. Liberia is plagued by a lack of compassion and a twisted sense of justice. May God bring peace to the mourning family. Without true justice, there can be no peace in Liberia”.

George F. Bundor said: “Justice will never favor the poor and some of us believe that she was going to be let free as long as she is a unity partisan, the poor girl spirit has to revenge on her behalf not Liberia justice system”.

Bill Koiblee wrote: “Congratulations to Cllr. Gloria Musu Scott for the historic freedom today, the prays of the Liberian people have be answered and bravo to the Supreme Court for this historic judgment for the former chief justice Cllr. Musu Scott. Thanks God that Cllr. Scott and family have been acquitted from the well planned and calculated murder case organized by the notorious criminals gangs from the former ruling Cdc administration intended to suffocate and denigrate Cllr. Scott for her professional performance. Shame on Weah and cronies the Almighty God will punish all of them involved.”

Aaron McGill also congratulated Scott and the Supreme Court.

Frederick Jayweh stated: “Unfortunately since Liberia's Civil conflict, some of the judges named, nominated, appointed and permitted to hold hearings and determinations in both civil and criminal cases in Liberia, deeply appeared not to know nor have thorough, rigorous and enviable understanding and appreciation of Liberia's substantive and Criminal procedural Law. We wonder whether some of these judges sitting in our courts and hearing both civil and criminal cases were nominated and appointed solely based on personal associations, connections and/or on mere political considerations.”

Some legal professionals are said to have been shocked at the questions posed by the court to Cllr. Bobby Livingstone. One lawyer said. “It was surprising to hear them ask if all the defendants used the same knife,” that killed the victim. Another stated that the line of questioning suggested the high court would overturn the lower court’s verdict.

The politicization started at the beginning of the case. Shortly after the murder, some women, including government officials, dressed in black, marched in support and sympathy for Scott. Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf viewed Scott’s arrest "as a sad day and said Liberia's Justice System has reverted to the bad ways of the past." Counselor Teowon Gongolon, a 2023 presidential candidate, called the LNP's action "unfair and unfortunate". Cllr. Jerome Verdier, former chairman of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, alleged that former "Monrovia City Mayor Jefferson Koijee of having masterminded the murder carried out by Varlee Telleh," an employee of the city.

Moreover, before the arrest, some Liberians motivated by radio station Freedom FM gathered at the residence of Musa Dean, the then minister of justice, demanding action on Charlon’s case. Some Liberians felt that the minister was inactive on the case because of his association with Scott. In fact, she drove many miles to see him on the night of the stabbing before taking the victim to the hospital. Meanwhile, Freedom FM is considered a supporter of Weah.

After the election, Patrick Honnah, Punch Radio CEO, proclaimed that Cllr. Scott would be free now that Ambassador Joseph Boakai has won the election.

ANALYSIS
Certainly, politics seems to have played a vital role in the murder case. Gloria Musu Scott, the past Supreme Court Chief Justice, was the focus, not the victim, nor the co-defendants. Most likely, the Defense would not have appealed the verdict had Scott not been involved. Some analysts predicted the outcome of the appeal. Even had the high court ruled otherwise, President Boakai would have pardoned and freed the Defendants. Many political supporters appealed to him to consider pardoning the Defendants. While Scott was in prison, Solicitor General Augustine Fayiah, accompanied by journalists and government officials, visited the Monrovia Central Prison and openly apologized to her on behalf of the Boakai administration for false news that the government had granted her compassionate leave. Remember that Cllr. Fayiah, before his appointment as solicitor general by President Boakai, served as the lead lawyer for Scott and the co-defendants at the criminal trial during the Weah administration.

Further, Scott’s political role, particularly as former Supreme Court Chief Justice, appeared instrumental in the high court decision. Also, remember that Kabineh M. Ja’neh, a former associate Supreme Court Justice, pleaded for the Defense. He did not serve as the Defendants’ principal lawyer when the State trialed the case in the lower court. The Defense brought him in for the appeal to plead before his former colleagues. Like other institutions, the Supreme Court appears to be a club, which sometimes seeks the interest of its past members or political appointee, i.e., the president and the political party.

THE SUPREME COURT AND MURDER CASES IN THE PAST

As known, the Supreme Court is the arbiter of justice. While it had rendered remarkable rulings in the past, it had also given questionable decisions historically. The murder case of Angel Togba is an example. She was a 13 –year-old virgin who died on November 30, 2007. She was “reportedly found hanging in the bathroom of her guardian, Mr. Han Williams, a former Deputy Managing Director of the Liberia National Port Authority. The State alleged that Mr. Williams' wife, Madea Williams, murdered Angel after she found her husband having sex with the victim. The Prosecution maintained that "out of anger, Madea strangled the girl to death." The Prosecution argued that the Defendants then covered up the killing by hanging the victim to indicate that she killed herself. The Defendants pleaded not guilty. However, an autopsy, which a Ghanaian pathologist conducted, showed Angel was sexually abused before her death by strangulation. The lower court ruled the Defendants guilty of murder. However, on August 15, 2014, the “Supreme Court overturned the verdict and freed the Defendants.” The ruling met public outcry.

Dagbayonoh Kiah Nyanfore II
Dagbayonoh Kiah Nyanfore II, © 2024

This Author has 58 publications here on modernghana.comColumn: Dagbayonoh Kiah Nyanfore II

Disclaimer: "The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect ModernGhana official position. ModernGhana will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements in the contributions or columns here." Follow our WhatsApp channel for meaningful stories picked for your day.

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