The Criminal Court “A” at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia was a scene of drama when both defense and prosecuting attorneys rejected several individuals during a screening exercise intended to select the Panel of Jury to try the Capitol Building Arson Case involving former House Speaker J. Fonati Koffa and others.
Many potential jurors selected for screening were asked to write and read from newspapers, books, and other documents to assess their level of understanding; some were disqualified due to their connections with either party. Seven of the jurors were selected after a rigorous screening by both parties and immediately taken home to collect their belongings and brought back to the court to be sequestrated until the end of the trial.
One person who was rejected told the court that he and defendant Representative Dixon Seboe attend the same church where the lawmaker serves as elder, establishing a direct contact between the two. Another revealed that former Speaker Koffa and she have a close relationship (meaning they talked on issues of concern), as well as defendant Representative Abu Kamara, who she said served on a committee at her workplace, of which she was a part.
On Monday, November 17, 2025, Defendants Koffa, Kamara, Dixon W. Seboe, Representative Jacob Debee, and several other defendants in the ongoing Arson case of the Capitol Building pleaded “Not Guilty” to the indictment after it was read to them. Koffa and several other defendants are charged with a string of offences, including Arson, Criminal Mischief, Endangering Other People, and Attempted Murder. The lawmakers filed a Writ of Certiorari with the Supreme Court of Liberia seeking a review of the lower court’s decision to deny their motion to suppress evidence.
On Wednesday, September 24, 2025, Judge Roosevelt Z. Willie ruled against the defendants’ Motion to Suppress Evidence. The Judges’ ruling ordered the evidence to be turned over to the trial jurors for determination based on a medical report that could not clearly determine claims of sodomy made by some of the defendants, which eventually caused the prosecution to cease.
Judge Willie adjudged: “WHEREFORE AND IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, the Court says based on the issues as raised by the defendants, the resistance thereto by the Prosecution, the laws cited herein and the arguments put forth by the Parties, the Motion to Suppress the Evidence is hereby denied and this case is ordered proceeded forthwith.”
However, in a communication to Judge Willie on Thursday, September 25, 2025, the Supreme Court of Liberia revealed a writ of certiorari filed by the defense team, ordering a stay of all proceedings in the case pending a conference with the Justice in Chambers Jamesetta Howard-Wolokolie.
The communication read: “IN RE: J. Fonati Kofa, Dixon W. Seboe, Abu B. Kamara & Jacob C. Debbie, et al of Monrovia, PETITIONERS, VERSUS RL by and thru the Ministry of Justice in the City of Monrovia, County of Montserrado, Liberia, respondents. By directive of Her Honor Jamesetta H. Wolokolie, Associate Justice presiding in Chambers, you are hereby cited to a conference with Her Honor on Thursday, October 2, 2025, at the hour of 3:00 p.m., in connection with the above captioned case. Meanwhile, you are ordered to stay all further proceedings and/or actions in the matter pending the outcome of the conference.”
Judge Willie had ordered the full trial to be assigned for Friday, September 26, 2025, at 10 am prompt; however, the writ of certiorari prevented the actual commencement until yesterday, November 17, after months of back-and-forth pre-trial processes.
The Judge’s decision to deny the motion to suppress evidence was based on a medical report that ruled out sodomy committed against some of the defendants while in pre-trial detention.
In his ruling, he said, “It is the honest view of this Court that the evidence should be passed unto the Trial Jurors, who are the triers of facts and clothed with the legal authority to determine the genuineness of the allegations as made by the Defendants. Notwithstanding this view, it is also the frank assessment of this Court based on Article 10(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which says that, “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person”. Thus, the State is under obligation to ensure that these rights of the Defendants as stated herein above are respected at all times.
He adjudged on two major reasons based on the medical report, including revocation or voluntary retraction by the defendants of the claim of sodomy during their medical examination, during which time they stated that they were never sexually abused, and no medical examination should be done on their genitals and anuses.
Judge Willie said this presupposes that although they had informed the court that the evidence should be suppressed because they were sodomized, this information is imaginary, as insinuated by them during their medical examination.
The second issue: The Judge mentioned the admission of the physician in his report, when he acknowledged that the medical examination encountered certain “limitations and constraints, including the passage of time between the alleged incidents and the examinations, which may have obscured or altered physical findings.
Continuing with the report, Judge Willie named the patient’s revocations of consent for specific examinations (notably genital and anal assessments), and the inherent limitations of available diagnostic modalities within the present setting; as such, the report then concludes that despite these constraints, the physician endeavored to provide a thorough, impartial and professionally grounded account of the clinical evidence before them. The December 18 incident of 2024 implicated several senior past and current officials of Government, drawing national attention.
