By Precious D. Freeman
The scene was dramatic and unsurprisingly emotional as the former Chief Justice and her three relatives convicted of murder walked out of the Monrovia Central Prison yesterday on a unanimous overturned opinion from the Supreme Court.
Cllr. Gloria Musu Scott having spent one year and one month behind bars pleaded for a prompt and massive reform in terms of the environment for her former colleagues who are in prison.
Like Genesis 40-41 of the Holy Bible recalls the story of Joseph and the Cupbearer of Pharaoh, Cllr. Scott emphasized the urgent need for reform within the country’s justice system saying, “I am rejoicing today along with my family, but there is much work still to be done. There are many people in this country who are suffering and languishing in prison, particularly those without resources or support.”
She criticized the system for its failures noting that if such injustices could be inflicted upon her, it is reasonable to question the conditions faced by the less privileged.
“If they can do this to me, what about those who are less fortunate and who have been forgotten in jails across the counties?” she asked; though some of those inmates were sentenced or sent to prison even during the same Gloria Scott’s bench.
She then called for reform which resonates with a broader public concern about fairness and transparency in the country’s legal processes.
Meanwhile, all four sitting members of the Youh bench signed the judgment of the Supreme Court overturning the conviction verdict from the lower court leaving many to wonder that the culprit in murder case of Charloe Musu must be the next issue.
The case, which drew significant public and media attention, had initially resulted in a guilty verdict by jury trial in Criminal Court ‘C’ thereby adjudging all defendants guilty for allegedly fatally stabbing Charloe with a kitchen knife in their Brewerville residence in June last year.
Following the jurors’ unanimous verdict, Judge Roosevelt Willie sentenced Scott and her co-defendants to life imprisonment but announcing exception, the defense challenged the ruling, leading to an appeal that landed in the Supreme Court.
However, Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene G. Yuoh, delivering the unanimous opinion of her Supreme Court’s bench, focused on whether the State did prove beyond reasonable doubts that the defendants conspired to commit the murder.
Chief Justice Yuoh noted that the court is convinced that prosecution had failed to establish a direct connection between the defendants and the crime, leading to the reversal of the lower court’s verdict.
