Liberia: Govt. Must Find Charloe’s Killer

Barley two weeks after the Supreme Court of Liberia reversed the conviction of former Chief Justice Gloria Musu Scott and three others for murder, defense lawyers in the case are gearing up for a fight back for Justice in the case that has raised more constitutional questions here.

The lower court convicted Justice Scott and three family members for killing her niece, Charloe Musu, in February 2023.

But the Defense counsel in the case says they are about to push for a review of legal decisions that led to false accusations against defendant Gloria Musu Scott and three of her family members, which led them to be thrown in jail for almost 450 days.

Cllr. Gloria Musu Scott, Gertrude Newton, Alice Johnson, and Rebecca Youdeh Wisner were all sentenced to lifetime imprisonment for the murder of Charloe Musu. But a fourth Wednesday ago, the Supreme Court ruled that there was no evidence to substantiate claims that they had participated in the killing of the 29-year-old student a year ago.

The defendants spent one year and four months at Monrovia Central Prison (South Beach) in connection with the crime.

Charloe Musu was murdered on February 22, 2023, at the home of her Aunt, former Chief Justice Cllr. Scott in Brewerville, Montserrado County.

Persecutors at the trial alleged she and the three members of the family had participated in the crime, as they were the main occupants of the house when the incident occurred.

Addressing the media about the fairness of the case at an award ceremony for Professor Moses S.E. Hinneh, director of testing and Evaluation of the University of Liberia (UL), held on Capitol Hill, defense counsel and former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Kabina Ja’ neh demanded that the Government of Liberia bring the killer of the late Charloe to justice.

Justice Ja’ neh indicated that since there is no evidence to warrant a guilty verdict on the four persons allegedly accused of playing a role in the death of the victim, including former Chief Justice Scott, the government has a duty to find the killer of the innocent woman.

“In whatever you think, somebody has done something in violation of the law that person, according to our constitution, must be presumed innocent until prosecutors who may have brought charges against that person must come to court and provide the evidence and prove that person committed the crime, even if it is done in your presence, there must be an evidence to show,” he emphasized.

Therefore, in the Gloria Scott case, we are thinking of many things we want to do because this will be a great opportunity for the Liberian people to have some classroom lessons on how the system works, Justice Ja’neh continued.

“When you wrong somebody, the law says there’s a remedy, and since this woman did not commit this crime and spent 450 days in prison without evidence and the court has just affirmed our decisions as defense counsel, therefore it should be prevailing, Justice, the government must find Charloe’s killer, and that is the duty of the state, and they must do that”, Justice Ja’neh demands.

According to him, since DNA examination results has shown there was a male involvement in the crime, it is the duty of the government to provide the killer, according to replication of constitutional laws.

He emphasizes that “if DNA results from the Court proves there was a male involvement, the government must go out to find the person.

“The good is we have DNA, and if there is male involvement, people must be put to work to find Charloe’s killer.

Meanwhile, Cllr. Scott has since denied and defended herself against the accusations while slamming the Justice System here as chronically wrong, vowing to pursue justice to restore the country’s damaged image.