Monrovia – Stipendiary Magistrate Ben Barco of the Monrovia City Court has remanded former Chief Justice Gloria Musu Scott and three of her family members, who reside with her in the same house, to the Monrovia Center Prison.
By Victoria G. Wesseh, Contributing Writer
The three family members charged alongside Cllr. Scott are Rebecca Youdeh Wisner, Gertrude Newton, and Alice Johnson.
Magistrate Barco made this decision following a Writ of Arrest that was issued and served on the former Chief Justice and the co-suspects for the death of Charloe Musu. Charloe died as a result of a stabbing incident that occurred in Cllr. Scott’s home. Charloe was the former Chief Justice’s niece. After her death, Cllr. Scott reported that an armed robber attacked her niece and stabbed her to death at their Virginia Brewerville home.
However, the Liberia National Police, in the Writ of Arrest for the suspects, stated, “On the 22nd of February, 2023, the Defendants colluded, connived, and conspired to stab the victim, Charloe Musu, multiple times resulting in her untimely death, using a sharp instrument believed to be a knife. Furthermore, the Defendants reported to the police that the deceased was killed by an unknown man who intruded into their house. However, police investigators have established that this account is false and misleading.”
On Thursday, Justice Scott and the co-suspects were escorted to the Monrovia City Court by a large number of riot officers.
During the preliminary hearing of the case, lawyers representing Cllr. Scott and the others requested the court to grant their clients bail, citing Article 21(h) of the Liberian Constitution and Chapter 13.1 of the Criminal Procedure Law.
Article 21(h) states that “no person shall be held to answer for a capital or infamous crime except in cases of impeachment, cases arising in the Armed Forces and petty offenses unless upon indictment by a Grand Jury.”
Chapter 13.1 of the Criminal Procedure Law also states that “a person in custody for the commission of a capital offense shall, before conviction, be entitled as of right to be admitted to bail unless the proof is evident or the presumption great that they are guilty of the offense.
The defense counsels argued that the crime is grave and, therefore, the burden of proving that the defendants are guilty falls on the Republic.
According to the defense counsels, since murder is a capital offense and the proof is not evident, the defendants should be released on bail.
However, the state prosecutors resisted the motion filed by the defense counsel and relied on Article 21(d) and Chapter 13.1 of the Criminal Procedure Law of Liberia.
The state prosecutors further argued that murder is a capital offense and, therefore, the defendants should not be granted bail.
Meanwhile, Judge Barco reserved his ruling on the matter and remanded the defendants to jail. They are scheduled to return on Friday, June 23, 2023, at noon.