Criminal Court “C” of the First Judicial Circuit in Montserrado County has issued a writ of arrest for several people accused of drug-related offenses, money laundering, criminal conspiracy and other crimes.
Assigned Circuit Judge Ousman F. Feika issued the writ on Wednesday, October 7, directing the Montserrado County Sheriff or his deputy to arrest the defendants and bring them before the court to answer to the charges.
Among those named in the court document are former Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor, former National Security Agency Deputy Director for Administration Gerald Foley Smith, former LCAA Deputy Director for Operations Mark Quiah, as well as several other Liberian and foreign nationals.
The charges include unlicensed possession, importation and exportation of controlled drugs or substances, illicit trafficking, criminal conspiracy, criminal facilitation, criminal solicitation and money laundering.
The defendants are also charged with “Unlicensed Sale, Trading, Administration, Dispensation, Delivery, Distribution, Dispatch in Transit, & Transportation of Controlled Drugs/Substances.”
According to the writ, the arrests are being ordered based on an indictment returned by the Montserrado County Grand Jury.
The court document states that the defendants are “CHARGED WITH THE COMMISION OF THE ABOVE MENTIONED CRIMES, BASED UPON THE INDICTMENT PREPARED AGAINST THEM BY THE GRAND JURY DULY SELECTED, EMPANELLED, AND SWORN TO INQUIRE IN AND FOR THE PEOPLE OF MONTSERRADO COUNTY, REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA.”
The court subsequently ordered the sheriff to arrest the defendants and bring them before Criminal Court “C” to answer to the charges.
The writ states: “YOU ARE HEREBY COMMANDED TO ARREST THE LIVING BODIES OF ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS IN THE ABOVE ENTITLED CAUSE OF ACTION.”
The sheriff is also required to make an official return to the court, showing when and how the writ was served.
The document was signed on October 7 by J. Amos F. Gbowah, Clerk of Criminal Court “C,” under the hand and seal of the court.
What the writ means
A writ of arrest is a court order directing law enforcement to arrest a person named in the order and bring that person before the court.
An indictment, on the other hand, is the formal accusation returned by a Grand Jury against a person accused of committing a crime.
The two are therefore not the same.
In this case, the writ makes clear that the defendants are to be arrested “based upon the indictment” returned by the Grand Jury. This means the Grand Jury indictment came first, followed by the court’s order for the defendants to be arrested and brought before the court.
The issuance of the writ does not mean the defendants have been found guilty. It means they have been formally indicted and the court has ordered that they be brought before it to answer the charges.
The allegations must still be proven in court, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty according to law.
