By: R. Joyclyn Wea
Monrovia-Jan-11-TNR: Legal Counsels of Cllr. Gloria Musu Scott and her three family members say they were taken aback by the jurors’ guilty verdict and Judge Roosevelt Wille’s life imprisonment sentence.
Minutes after Criminal Court “A” Judge Wille upheld the jurors’ December 21, 2023, guilty verdict against former Chief Justice Scott and her family, her lawyers took exception to the ruling with a declaration to file an appeal before the full bench of the Supreme Court of Liberia which is the final arbiter of justice in the land.
Former Chief Justice Scott’s legal team’s decision to appeal to the full bench of the Supreme Court is to have that honorable court examine the jurors’ decision.
On January 9, 2023, Justice Gloria Musu Scott and her three relatives were sentenced to life after five months of trying to prove her innocence before Criminal Court “A”.
During the sentencing hearing, Judge Roosevelt Wille sentenced the former stateswoman and her family for life a punishment that will be served at the Monrovia Central Prison.
In his judgment, Judge Wille said regretfully death sentence had been suspended which implies that the Judge awarded the indictment’s hanging. Their life imprisonment sentence takes effect right after the Tuesday, January 9, 2023 judgment by the court.
On December 21, 2023, a 15-member jury panel handed down a guilty verdict against Justice Gloria Musu Scott, former Liberian Chief Justice, and her three relatives: Gertrude Newton, Alice Johnson, and Rebecca Youdeh Wisner for the death of Charlie Musu in February of last year.
The case dates back to February 2023 following an attack on the home of Justice Scott that led to the subsequent death of CharloeMusu her niece.
In June of 2023, Scott and her three relatives mentioned above were arrested and indicted for the crimes of Murder, Criminal Conspiracy, and Giving False Reports to State Security in connection to the February incident at the justice home that resulted in the death of the daughter.
The state indictment alleges that the indictees armed themselves with a sharp instrument which it believed to be a knife and pepper spray, willfully, intentionally, purposely, and maliciously inflicted several bodily injuries on the deceased resulting in her subsequent death at the Redemption Hospital in New Kru Town.
Following a five-month trial into the case, the juror of fact unanimously agreed with the state that Justice Scott and her three relatives killed the deceased finding them guilty of all three charges listed above.
Reacting to the jury’s verdict, the Spokesperson of the Scott family, Mr. Nathaniel S. Toes, Jr., said the family rejected the jurors’ verdict, terming it as criminal.
Toe added, “Nobody is going to allow a process that was characterized by bribery, criminal activities. It’s clear that the jurors were bribed and tampered with.”
