Monrovia – Three pastors of the Monrovia Christian Revival Church (CRC) have been found guilty and sentenced to four months imprisonment for assaulting a prelate of the same church.
Report by Bettie K. Johnson-Mbayo, [email protected]
Defendants Dennis Aggrey, Jonathan Wolobah, and John Kucuyoiyoigee were charged for Simple Assault and felonious restraint following a complaint filed by Abraham Gargannah, pastor of CRC.
According to him, on July 1, 2018, during service hours, he was assaulted and denied access to his office by the defendants.
He narrated that during service, defendant Wolobah went on the pulpit and announced that he (Gargannah) is an assistant pastor while referring to defendant Aggrey as the senior pastor. An act, which he said, he tried to rectify but two of the three defendants specifically Kucuyoiyoigee and Wolobah squeezed him both hands to get the microphone away so that he would not say a word to the congregation.
Pastor Gargannah explained that while they were tussling over the microphone, defendant Aggrey left the congregation and punched him in the right ear.
He said the tussled led to his shirt button being torn off adding that he was also shoved off the pulpit and pushed out of the church.
Pastor Gargannah said he went to the hospital for check-up along with his father, and the result showed that he developed inflammation which resulted in mild hearing loss.
According to him, the situation was reported but defendant Aggrey refused to attend any of the meetings to resolve the leadership crises.
Prosecution second witness David Livingstone who served the church for 25 corroborated the testimony of the complainant.
Blessing Ayalia, state prosecutor third witness said she and complainant Gargannah were pulled out of the office by defendant Aggrey on grounds that he wanted to lock ‘his church’.
Defense lawyers presented three witnesses namely: Mambu Boakai, Paul Menlee, and Deacon Joseph Cooper.
The testimonies of the defense witnesses, according to Associate Monrovia Magistrate of the Monrovia City Court, had self-contradictions.
Magistrate Lasana Kamara said Boakai told the court that he politely asked Gargannah to hand him the microphone which was adhered to by the complainant.
The second witness Menlee testified that the complainant handed him the microphone so as to avoid confusion in the church.
Both first and second witnesses of the defense could not remember who was the worship leader of the service on the day of the incident.
Magistrate Kamara said he could not hold the church clergies on theft and felonious restraint because state prosecutors failed to provide evidence.
“Review of the testimonies and other material evidence proffered by the prosecution failed to prove felonious restraint and theft of property,” He said.
He ruled that the defendants were not guilty of felonious restraint and theft of property but were guilty of simple assault.
The defendants were sentenced and were asked to pay US$400 each into the judicial account in compliance with chapter 23.2,3,4 of the criminal procedure law and chapter 50.2, 50.7 and 50.9 of the amended acts of title 26 of the penal law of Liberia.
Simple assault is a misdemeanor of the second degree according to according to the act expanding the jurisdiction of the magistrate court approved December 14, 2012.
Defense lawyers announced an appeal to the criminal court ‘A’ in its May term of court.