Associate Justice Jamesetta Howard Wolokollie, presiding in Chambers at the Supreme Court of Liberia, has declined to issue a writ of certiorari requested by former House Speaker J. Fonati Koffa and others in connection to the high-profile Capitol Building arson case.
In her directive issued through the Clerk of Court, Cllr. Sam Mamulu, Justice Wolokollie ruled that the petition filed by the defense lacked sufficient legal grounds to warrant interference from the Supreme Court. and the lower court is now ordered to resume jurisdiction and proceed in keeping with the law.
The case, which involves former Speaker Fonati Koffa, lawmakers Dixon W. Seboe, Abu B. Kamara, and Jacob C. Debbie, centers on allegations that the defendants were linked to a fire incident at the Capitol believed by prosecutors to have been a deliberate act aimed at destroying legislative documents.
The petitioners had sought to halt the proceedings and suppress evidence they claimed was illegally obtained. However, Justice Wolokollie’s decision to deny the writ effectively allows Criminal Court “A” Resident Judge Roosevelt Z. Willie to continue hearing the case.
