Counsellor Albert Sims, one of the lawyers representing Club Beer Factory in the Action of Summary Proceedings to Recover Possession of Real Property, has found himself in trouble with the Civil Law Court.
The case against Club Beer Factory was filed by the Intestate Estate of the late Jeda Tor, who accused the Factory of illegally occupying forty-six (46) acres of its land laying and situated in Bushrod Island, Montserrado County,
Cllr. Sims, who for many years worked with the US Sanctioned Cllr. Varney Sherman, of the Sherman and Sherman Laws Firm before he and his colleagues established Justice Advocate and Partners, Inc, is accused of tampering with one of the male Jurors Arnold Gbaboh, on February 4, 2025, during the hearing of the case. Sims was accused by Cllr. Lawrence Tomah, one of the lawyers for the Estate and a female court staffer Evelyn Karyee.
Based on the accusations, Judge Scheaplor Dunbar temporarily suspended case, heard and concluded investigation of the acts, and subsequently reserved his ruling.
Both Cllr. Tomah and Evelyn Karyee, in their separate testimonies, claimed that Cllr. Sims and Juror Gbaboh were seen exchanging contact numbers, immediately after the day’s hearing outside of the courtroom. But both had denied having any interaction with each other.
However, Sims admitted that he gave US$10.00 to two of the jurors, who had asked him to assist with transportation, but the money was not meant to bribe the jury, rather it was part of his kind gesture to help people.
It can be recalled that Juror Gbaboh, earlier this year, served on the jury panel that decided the unanimous verdict against Ecobank in the US$700,000 libel case brought by Wilmot Smith, dismissed former Deputy Director General for Information Coordination at the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo Information Services (LISGIS). Cllr. Sims was the lead lawyer in the case for Ecobank, though Smith’s lawyers rejected the jury’s verdict and had filed for a new trial.
In the case of the Estate’s jury tampering compliant, Cllr. Tomah and Evelyn Karyee, one of the court’s staffers, said that they saw Cllr. Sims and Juror Gbaboh exchanged contact numbers right after the court adjourned.
Tomah told the investigation that when the jurors walked outside in split seconds, he (Tomah) left his colleagues standing at the bar and he walked out and to his dismay and disbelief, he saw Cllr. Albert Sims and Juror Gbaboh exchanging contact numbers right before the court.
Unfortunately, Tomah claims that he never had his phone with him to take a photograph of the exchanges between Sims and Gbaboh, but Clerk Evelyn witnessed the incident and that accusation was confirmed when she testified during the investigation.
Tomah claimed that he immediately came back to the court and informed his colleagues about the incident, which they later reported to the court for an investigation. However, Sims and Juror Gbaboh denied the accusations, describing it as false and misleading, and intended to damage their respective characters.
For Cllr. Sims, he said the allegations were “malicious, wicked and intended to spoil my character.”
“In fact after the hearing I proceeded to the National Labor Court. I did not have any interaction with anybody. For the record, let me say to this court, that I have been in the practice for a little over twenty years now, so, I know the gravity of the offence when it comes to jury tampering, so the allegation by Cllr. Tomah is malicious, wicked and is intended to spoil my character,” Sims told the investigation.
Juror Gbaboh however said, “I never interacted with Cllr. Sims; after the case was adjoined, I left the court; I used the left side of the court; got in my vehicle and went to my office to do a report,” the juror told the investigation.
According to him, the next day when he came back to the court, he was surprised that he was accused by Tomah and Karyee of talking to Cllr. Sims and taking his number. He is requesting that all of his call logs from any of the GSM companies be subpoenaed to prove whether he had ever communicated with Cllr. Sims.
In the main suit, Intestate Estate is asking the court to oust, eject, and evict defendant (Club Beer Factory) from its property they continue to occupy since May 2022 to the disadvantage of plaintiff.
“Levy and institute Compensatory and Punitive Damages against the defendant and to further hold them (defendant) liable for illegally occupying and doing business on our property without any color of right, the fear of God and in total disregard to the rule of law,” the lawsuit argues.
According to the suit, the Estate of the late Jeda Tor, genuine owner of Forty-six (46) Acres of land laying and situated in Bushrod Island, Montserrado County, was purchased by the late Jeda Tor, their late father and grandfather.
The lawsuit claims that during the life of the late Jeda Tor, the original owner of the parcel of land, leased to Monrovia Breweries, Inc. (MBI) 19.695 acres of land on the 22 Day of May, A. D. 1957, to have and to hold the same said parcel of land pending the expiration of the said Agreement of Lease which was extended by the Jeda Tor Estate on May 22, 2000.
They allege that the said Agreement of Lease has expired since May 22, 2022 and brings to closure the Agreement of Lease signed by the late Jeda Tor and subsequently extended in 2000.
The suit says further that since the expiration of the May 22, 2000 agreement of lease, there has been no further extension made for which the defendant continues to illegally occupy its property and continues to do business on the said property to the disadvantage of plaintiff, and the heirs of the late Jeda Tor Estate, “something the late Jeda Tor did not intend would ever happen that such action would be perpetrated against the estate and its heirs.”
The lawsuit contends that the action of the defendant has caused and continues to cause untold hardship on the estate and its beneficiaries as the estate’s bills cannot be settled including other financial burdens of the Estate.
