The Resident Judge of Criminal Court “A” at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia, Roosevelt Z. Willie, on Friday, August 16, 2024 ordered the release of 39 pre-trial detainees from the Monrovia Central Prison upon the failure of the Government of Liberia to indict them for crimes allegedly committed.
The judge’s action was Sua-Sponte, meaning the court took notice of an issue on its own motion, without prompting or suggestion from either party. As a general rule, where grounds for dismissal exist, an action is subject to dismissal on a court’s own motion.
Judge Willie’s action is in line with Title 2 of the Liberian Code of Law Revised of the Criminal Procedure Law, Chapter 18 Section 18.2 titled Dismissal by Court for Failure to Proceed with Prosecution.
The law provides that “Unless a good cause is shown, a court shall dismiss a complaint against a defendant who is not indicted by the end of the next succeeding term after his arrest for an indictable offense or his appearance in court in response to a summons or notice to appear charging him with such an offense.
It continues as saying that a court shall dismiss a complaint charging a defendant with an offense triable by a magistrate or justice-of-the-peace if trial is not commenced in court in response to a summons or notice to appear.
According to Judge Willie, the dismissal or order is done without prejudice to the state, which means upon their release the state can re-arrest the defendants on any of the crimes that they have been released of.
The Judge’s release order said, “Consistent with Title 2-Liberian Code of Law Revised-Criminal Procedure Law, Chapter 18, Section 18.2, the court hereby sua sponte, order the release of the following defendants or pretrial detainees who have overstayed the statutory period required for pretrial detainee to be indicted; this dismissal is done without prejudice to the state.”
The listed crimes in this category include Murder, Manslaughter, Armed Robbery, Aggravated Assault Theft of Property, Arson, Criminal Conspiracy, Criminal Facilitation, Burglary Criminal Attempt to Commit Murder, Illegal Possession of Firearms, and Circumstantial Murder, among other charges.
Those released are David Francis, William Simbiano, Benjamin Williams, Isaac Kollie, Daniel Jeffery, Daniel T. Sneh, Dee Sampson, Eddie Kana, Daniel Kennedy, Jefferson Barkue, Bill Chea, Morris Momolu, Edwin Johnson, Nathan Francis, Andrew Flomo , Alhaji Kpakpa, William Smith, Sampson Larma, Alive Baryogar, Morris Mamey, Jerry Moore, amongst others.
