Monrovia – Protection attorneys representing eight felony defendants have withdrawn their beforehand filed bail bond, following intense objections raised by state prosecutors.
Selma Lomax and Willie N. Tokpah
The defendants — Thomas Kivi Bah alias ‘Kaba’, Jerry Pokah alias ‘Tyrese’, Stephen M. Broh, John Nyanti, Christian Kofa, Amos Kofa, Eric Susay, and Thomas Etheridge — are accused of significant offenses stemming from the December 2023 incident involving an alleged arson assault on the Capitol Constructing.
Expenses embody arson, felony try and commit homicide, felony mischief, felony conspiracy, felony facilitation, felony solicitation, launch of damaging forces, reckless burning or exploding, and recklessly endangering one other particular person.
By means of a proper communication addressed to the Clerk of the First Judicial Circuit, Legal Courtroom “A”, protection counsel Cllr. Jonathan T. Massaquoi requested that the withdrawal be famous within the court docket’s official minutes. The protection underscored that the withdrawal was “with out prejudice,” preserving their proper to refile a brand new bond utility at a later date.
“Upon receipt of this Discover of Withdrawal, you’ll please unfold on the minutes of this Honorable Courtroom and enter upon its information that the Defendants have on this present day and date hereby withdrawn the Legal Look Bond filed with this Courtroom, with the suitable to refile, to make sure the day-to-day look of the stated Defendants through the Might A.D. 2025 Time period of this Courtroom, based mostly on the crimes charged,” the protection’s submission learn.
The withdrawal got here within the wake of a complete authorized problem mounted by the Ministry of Justice, which strongly objected to the bail bond’s approval by Resident Circuit Decide Roosevelt Z. Willie.
Prosecutors contended that the bond was legally and procedurally poor, particularly given the gravity of the crimes charged and what they described as a reputable menace of flight danger.
Based on court docket filings submitted by prosecutors, a number of defendants — most notably Thomas Etheridge — had beforehand fled Liberia through the early phases of the police investigation. Prosecutors alleged that the defendants used false identities to flee into neighboring Sierra Leone and Ghana.
These actions, they argued, reveal an lively intent to evade justice. “Prosecution says additional that when the Authorities of Liberia started collaborating with the Governments of Sierra Leone and Ghana to repatriate them, the Authorities of Sierra Leone alerted the Authorities of Liberia that Etheridge was already on his approach again to Liberia with the purpose of getting his household out of Liberia. Etheridge returned, he processed passports for himself, his girlfriend and son, thereby confirming the data and intelligence that the Authorities of Liberia had obtained,” the prosecution famous in its formal exception.
Along with elevating alarm over potential flight danger, prosecutors took subject with the property used to safe the bond. The surety, they claimed, offered a tax receipt for US$4,500 based mostly on a property positioned within the Virginia, Tire Store Group close to the residence of Consultant James Momo.
Nevertheless, the Liberia Income Authority (LRA) tax information indicated the property was in arrears of US$10,500, thereby violating authorized requirements requiring actual properties used for bond safety to be absolutely paid, unencumbered, and held in price easy by the surety.
The prosecution additional emphasised {that a} bond’s validity should additionally take into account the sufficiency of the guarantor’s property and the nationwide safety implications of releasing defendants dealing with such grave expenses.
The Ministry of Justice warned that the present bond failed to offer any significant assurance that the defendants would stay in Liberia to face trial.
Furthermore, two of the named defendants, Karpeh and Fansleh, stay at giant and are but to be positioned below the jurisdiction of the court docket. The state argued that permitting a bond to cowl people who usually are not bodily current or in custody undermines the very goal of a felony look bond.
“Within the instantaneous case, the bail bond posted in favor of the defendants is void of any assure that the defendants, when bailed, will stay within the nation for the trial of this case, which poses a severe nationwide safety danger,” the prosecution warned in its submission. “Each bail bond will need to have a safety for the achievement of the situations of the stated bond.”
Prosecutors additionally discredited the property valuation report submitted with the bond, stating that it was outdated and lacked notarization. The doc, based on Prosecutors, ready by Caesar Architects Inc. in 2013, was by no means sanctioned by a court docket of file and didn’t account for depreciation, making it inadequate to help a bond of this nature.
Following these objections, the protection selected to withdraw the bond earlier than the court docket may subject a ruling on the state’s exceptions. Authorized analysts recommend this transfer could have been strategic, permitting the protection to handle the prosecution’s considerations earlier than refiling a extra strong and legally sound bond bundle.
Decide Roosevelt Z. Willie is predicted to convene further hearings within the coming days to handle the following steps, together with whether or not a brand new bond submission might be accepted or if the defendants will stay in pretrial detention.
