GRAND CAPE MOUNT COUNTY, LIBERIA-Four defendants have been convicted for killing a gold mine worker, Joseph Sumo, in Grand Cape Mount County, following a week-long legal battle.
The defendants are John Odinaka, a Nigerian, and Mohamed Ali Bah, a Sierra Leonean, including Mahn Slapon and John Jesian, a Liberian.
The trial jurors of the 5th Judicial Circuit Court unanimously guilty verdict, claiming that the weight of evidence adduced in court by prosecuting lawyers during the trial was convincing to implicate the four defendants in murder as provided by law.
But the Chief Defense Counsel of Grand Cape Mount County, Cllr. Boima Passewe took exception to the jurors’ decision o the grounds that the verdict went contrary to the weight of evidence adduced in court by the State lawyers.
Cllr. Passewe further disclosed that he is considering a motion for a new trial for his clients as provided by Chapter 22, Section 22.1 of the Criminal Procedure Law, with the intent to set aside the jurors’ unanimous guilty verdict.
The jurors’ decision has set the stage for Judge Ousman Feika to announce his final judgment within five days, despite the defense lawyer’s plans to submit a motion for a new trial.
Before the jurors’ verdict, Grand Cape Mount County Chief Prosecutor, Cllr. Nyonkpao Daye’s theory of the case was circumstantial evidence, while the Chief Defense Counsel of the same county was pushing a case theory of doubt.
In 2024, the four defendants accused Sumo, who was a gold miner, of stealing their diamond, and he was later apprehended by the defendants.
During the incident, the defendants reportedly tied up the deceased’s hands, flogged him, and threw him into a diamond pit, an act which led to his death.