Defense lawyers contend that their clients were wrongly accused of a crime they knew nothing about because the State allegedly failed to go after the main perpetrators – Jefferson Koijee and Varlee Telleh.
By Lincoln G. Peters
Monrovia, July 1, 2024: Liberia’s Supreme Court has scheduled to hear the appeal against the conviction of former Chief Justice Gloria Musu Scott and three of her family members this Tuesday, July 16, 2024.
Defense lawyers filed the appeal after a Circuit in Monrovia upheld jurors’ guilty verdict against Cllr. Scott and her family members Gertrude Newton, Rebecca Youdeh Wisner, and Alice Johnson for murder.
They were accused of killing Charloe Musu, daughter of Cllr. Scott. The former Chief Justice said she had reported two separate attacks against her home, but the authorities did nothing to prevent further attacks before Charloe was brutally murdered.
The accused denied any links to the murder and demanded the investigation of the former Monrovia Mayor for allegedly ordering Varlee Telleh to carry out the attack. Koijee and Telleh denied the claim.
Meanwhile, the court convicted Cllr. Scott, Madam Wisner, Madam Johnson, and Madam Newton for murder, criminal conspiracy, and raising false alarms to law enforcement officers.
During the trial, Cllr. Scott was the only witness who testified on behalf of the defendants.
She accused Koijee of orchestrating the attack and murder of Charloe Musu at her residence.
On January 9, 2024, Criminal Court ‘A’ Judge Roosevelt Z. Willie sentenced the accused to life imprisonment.
But their lawyers said the defendants were being wrongly accused of a crime they knew nothing about and that the State had failed to go after the main perpetrators.
Eleven of the 12 jurors voted for a guilty verdict, and one voted for a not guilty verdict.
“We, the trial jurors in the case, after careful consideration of the evidence, hereby carefully agree that the defendants are hereby judged guilty of the crime of murder, criminal conspiracy, and raising a false alarm to law enforcement officers,” the jury said.
