Monrovia – Indicted former boss of the National Port Authority (NPA), Matilda Parker wearing a purple dress in her usual smiling mood, arrived at the Supreme Court few minutes after 10am Monday, February 6 for an appeal hearing scheduled by the high court.
Report by Kennedy L. Yangian – [email protected]
Madam Parker case was second on the list of cases scheduled by the high court, but could not be heard when it was called for hearing after state prosecutor and Montserrado County Attorney Daku Mulbah told the justices that the state did not have any brief to present legal memorandum to the Supreme Court.
Atty. Mulbah said it was because he did not know whether the case had reached to the attention of the full bench of the Supreme Court.
A ‘Brief’ is a law citations lawyers representing parties write and present to the Supreme Court as their reliance to argue cases that are assigned ahead of hearing.
“Your honor I thought that this case is still in the chamber of the Associate Justice where it has been, I did not know that it has reached to the attention of the full bench,” Cllr Mulbah said.
The Montserrado County Attorney comments angered Chief Francis Korkpor who ordered that the state prosecutor be fined US$300.00 payable within 72 hours.
“We will not accept this from you; you are fined US$300 payable within 72 hours and receipt presented to the clerk. You did not assign this case.
“we assigned it, as prosecutor you have several persons working under your command and have the resources to employ many persons to do the work,” said Chief Justice Korkpor.
Madam Parker and her former Comptroller of the National Port Authority (NPA), Christiana Pealay were indicted by state prosecutors for economic sabotage, theft of property, criminal conspiracy and facilitation for allegedly awarding a contract worth over US$800.000 to dredge the Greenville Port in Sinoe County to a bogus company.
Parker and Paelay have since denied the claim.
The pair went on trial in early 2016 but the case was adjourned after prosecutor alleged that some jurors in the trial were been tempered when after a letter was reported to have been intercepted with one of the court officers assigned with the jurors at the time of sequestration.
The court after its full scale investigation, removed the four jurors on the panel mentioned in the letter but prosecution lawyers headed by Cllr. Daku Mulbah objected the ruling and filed a writ of ‘certiorari’ against the Judge’s ruling to the Associate Justice-in-Chamber at the time, Jamesette Wolokollie.
Associate Justice Wolokollie then ruled at a later date to have the entire jurors in the case disbanded, but her ruling was also rejected by the defense counsel headed by Cllr. Pearl Brown Bull who later announced an appeal to the Supreme Court against Associate Justice Wolokollie’s judgment.
Amid the failure of Monday’s hearing, Chief Justice Korkpor had told the parties to the case that the Supreme Court will be looking forward to set another assignment date for the case which has been stalled since May 2016 as the result of the disbandment of the jurors.