By Lincoln G. Peters
Montserrado County Attorney Alhaji Swahilo Saysay has celebrated the lifetime imprisonment of Liberia’s former Chief Justice Cllr. Gloria Musu Scott and three of her family members as a great achievement.
Presiding Criminal Court “A” Judge Roosevelt Z. Willie sentenced Cllr. Scott and Gertrude Newton, Alice Johnson, and Rebecca Youdeh Wisner on Tuesday, 9 January 2024 weeks after jurors found them guilty of the murder of Cllr. Scott’s daughter Charloe Musu.
But the defense lawyers have taken exception to the ruling and announced an appeal to the Supreme Court of Liberia.
Eleven out of twelve trial jurors had earlier concurred through a verdict handed Thursday, 21 December 2023 that Cllr. Scott and her three family members were responsible for Charloe Musu’s murder.
Addressing journalists after the court’s sentencing Tuesday at his office, Cllr. Saysay said he was not surprised at the jurors’ unanimous guilty verdict and the lifetime sentencing of the defendants because all traces of evidence pointed to them.
He termed the sentencing of Cllr. Scott as a great achievement, while appreciating the team of lawyers and the Liberia National Police (LNP) for its role.
“As a criminal defense lawyer formerly, now a prosecutor, I knew that there was not a doubt that the defendants committed the act because all traces of the evidence pointed to them, showing that there was no intruder into the house and they were hiding from the truth,” Cllr. Saysay claimed.
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“They lied to their friends, state, and the court. They created the impression that a government was after them.”
According to him, when people began to hear the actual information, they got disappointed, adding that most of the investigation that was leaked out by the police was based on discussion among their own family.
Cllr. Saysay stated that he saw the victory coming because the evidence was overwhelming and as a criminal defense lawyer, he knew that there was not a doubt.
“We presented evidence that a crime was committed and that crime is traceable to the defendants. The defendants concealed the necessary information leading to the alibi.”
He noted that they did not establish an alibi in their favor, saying all the evidence was traceable to them.
“They said an intruder entered the place, now, there was no trace of an intruder,” he noted.
The Montserrado County Attorney explained that when the jurors visited the crime scene, they were angry after establishing that there was no intruder as claimed by the defense team, something he said clearly showed that the defendants committed the act.
According to him, during the trial, they established malice in the case, alleging that on several occasions it was established that there was misunderstanding and conflict in the home of the former Chief Justice.
He further described the action of Cllr. Scott and co-defendants as a conduct that was planned, organized, and executed.
“I can say to you that the prosecution established malice. With that, there is a malice that was established as to the manner and form the murder was committed by the defendants.”
“Four persons cannot sleep in a room, and somebody is murdered, and nobody hears the scream. It’s not possible,” Cllr. Saysay argued.
