Mr. Amos P. K. Brosius, a resident of Montserrado County, has filed formal complaint against Commercial Court Judge Eva Mappy-Morgan to Chief Justice Francis Saye Korkpor for alleged “unethical behavior” in her book published this year.
The book titled “LEGAL ETHICS” Exploring Practices and Procedural in Liberia was published by the University of Liberia and taught in the Louise Arthur Grimes School of Law, but the author says “no reaction” when reached for further comment.
It is also reported that it becomes compulsory for every law school student to purchase or buy the book at the cost of USD30 per copy, but fell short to state what would be the penalty if one did not buy.
In a 6-page document in the possession of this paper dated Tuesday, December 1, 2020, and forwarded to Justice Korkpor, Brosius among many things is requesting the Judiciary Inquiry Committee (JIC) to investigate the matter because Morgan’s publication has incriminated him as a “criminal” who has made threats to allegedly kill Judge Chan-Chan A. Paegar and her.
But Brosius deemed it as false and misleading and wants the book to be banned from institutions of learning globally, including the law school at the University of Liberia.
He opined that the book does not serve the purpose of an ethics book that should be used in academic institutions globally, if not, only limited to Liberia.
“The decision of the Judge to deliberately incriminate me is a calculated attempt to incite public anger against me using her involvement with the petition for an accounting case in which she served as lone judge as a means to deceive the public,” Brosius stated.
He said there has been no time where any complaint was ever filed against him to the police by the Judge in which she (Morgan) complained of a so-called threat to her life.
“The Judge also did not publish any investigative report in which I was held guilty for threat to the Judge’s life. How would so many persons converge at the Providence Baptist Church to kill a judge without the authorities of the Church and the Liberian National Police being aware?” Brosius asked.
He stated further that Morgan has learned enough to know that she was under duty not to include false narratives about a case that she has recused herself from and is under probe for placing finances received from him for safe keeping into the custody of the court and handing same over to his adversary, the Monrovia Oil Trading Company (MOTC).
Without any hearing, he continued, “The matter to determine whether MOTC is entitled to any portion or the entire amount that she deceived me into believing that her action to freeze the said account was intended to protect the interest of both parties in the petition for accounting.”
The complainant believes that the case out of which the complaint against Mappy-Morgan grew is still lingering in the Commercial Court for more than seven years after it has been made crystal clear that the US$3.3 million constituting debt owed Ducor by its customers amounted to US$2, 910,223.86 was prohibited by order of the Commercial Court from collecting.
“The value of the seven checks received from me by the court which totaled US$212,704.36 balance in Ducor’s Liberian Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI) account of US$180,705.36 and the balance in Ducor’s Ecobank account totaling US$48,500 was ordered to place under the custody of the Commercial Court pending the final determination of the case is no longer into the custody of the court as was agreed by the parties in that suit,” Brosius disclosed.
Judge Mappy-Morgan classified the complainant as a man who incited people to kill Judge Paegar, Associate Judge of the Commercial Court of Liberia and me (her), a criminal, a liar, a person who impugns the reputation of the court.
She went further to allege how Brosius facilitated the action of those of them that she referred to as “foolish and ignorant people” to endanger her life at the Providence Baptist Church in Monrovia.
But Brosius denied the allegation. “I am neither aware of the religion to which Morgan ascribes nor am I aware that she is a member of the Providence Baptist Church.”
“The only interest I continue to pursue at the Commercial Court for the past 7 years prior to the publication of her book has been for her to return the monies that she caused me to surrender to her in her capacity as lone Judge in the matter between MOTC and me. According to her, it was necessary to protect both parties’ interest pending the final determination of the petition for accounting,” Brosius noted.
Continuing with his complaint, he attached photocopies of the book at pages 14, 15, 16, 17 & 18, and asked Chief Justice Korkpor to take note of Morgan’s statements on page 14, paragraphs 4, line 11-18 which stated the following about him (Amos) and his lawyer.
“How can a supposedly good man ‘do nothing’ as the life of the judge is threatened? Since they are part of the counsels representing Mr. Brosius, who penned the letter dated 31 March, 2014, requesting the court to have the auditing firm consider the amount of US$3.4 million, they said it was diverted by MOTC during the period 2006 to 2010,” unquote.
However, the victim opined on Morgan’s intent in her book that the letter of March 31, 2014 which she referred to in the book, is her evidence to clear her name of any need of accountability for monies to which he (Brosius) was entitled.
“For the Judge to mention US$3.4 million dollars is completely diversionary and it is done deliberately to mislead her readers. The issue of the USD3.4 million dollars as mentioned in her book was never my complaint to the Judiciary Investigative Committee or JIC; the records to the JIC are available for your easy reference,” Brosius said.
To the contrary, he advanced further that the monies Morgan accounted for during the JIC investigation of July 3, 2020 to August 21, 2020, was about US$3.3 million dollars placed in the custody of the Commercial Court of Liberia on July 15, 2013, with the agreement of the parties in the petition for accounting case over which she presided as lone Judge at the time.
“All transactions pertaining to the disputed accounts like deposits, withdrawals, checks, be stayed except transactions that are accompanied by a letter signed by her (Morgan) authorizing said transactions,” Brosius clarified. Writes Throble K. Suah