The second Judicial Circuit Court in Buchchana Grand Bassa County , presided over by Resident Judge Benedict W.  Holt, has released twelve (1 2) persons charged with murder in connection with the brutal killing of former plantation manager of the

  Liberian Agricultural Company  Mr. Bruno Michaels  on Criminal Appearance Bond, but  the  state  prosecution

has seriously  excepted to the bond, in a six-count resistance.

    The state represented by  Grand Bassa County Attorney  K. Karvin Zogan says the criminal appearance bond in its entirety is fatelly  defective, hence the honorable court and His Honor judge Holt should not give  credence to said bond.  Atty. Zogan said the bond lacks an indication of a, penalty, and that under the law controlling, every criminal appearance bond must contain a penalty as a legal foundation for enforcement of fore closure proceedings and requested the court to take judicial notice of the defendant’s bond.

  Atty. Zogan mentioned that the affidavit of sureties lack the proper meats and bounds under the controlling statute to provide the exact locality of the property offered as surety of the bond by showing measurement culling from the deed as the property being located in Gonuigar Town, Lower Harlandsville township not sufficient to provide proper description as required by statute.

  “Prosecution requests court to take judicial notice of the statement of property valuation emanated from the Real Estate Tax Division of Grand Bassa County collect orate”  Atty.  Zogan  remarked.

  “Besides the defectiveness of the bond, it is void of the names and signatures of eleven(11) of the defendants, who failed to affix their signatures to the bond including Isaac Zantoe, Kalifa Qboto, Luther Glador, Matther Cooper, Samuel Gueh, Richard Gardeae James Charlie, Moses Saymmon, John Tuku, Rufus Quoto which made the bond not binding”, he added.

  He noted that the mere indication, “ Arthur Crusoe et-al does not mean that the rest of the defendants who were charged with murder should not file a bail and  the verification that they are under bail is by  affixing their signatures to the bail granted them by the court.

  “The bond filed lacks the certificate from the Second Judicial Circuit Court’s clerk, Henry W. Garsaynee to verify that the property offered is freed from all liens encumbrances. The clerk says the resistance was filed on February 26, 2008 and placed in the case file.

  The prosecution finally prayed the court  to have the defendants’ criminal appearance bond cancelled annulled, set aside and rearrested and incarcerated in the common jail the said defendants.

  It can be recalled that the Eight-Count bail to admit the 12 murder suspects was filed on February 18, 2008 by defense counsels, Attorney Paul Philip Jarvan and Cllr. Powo Hilton.

  The defense counsels’ motion came in the wake of what they called contradiction in the testimonies of four of the eleven state witnesses at the Buchanan Magisterial Court, presided at the trial by associate Magistrate Richard Brown, which they said showed that ‘presumption is not greater than evidence’.

  The defense counsels argued that their clients should be admitted to bail on section 3.1 of the Criminal Procedure Law of Liberia pending trail because according to them the state prosecution deliberately  failed to produce sufficient evidence to prove the case beyond  all  reasonable doubts.

  In his ruling  Judge Holt, on Wednesday, February 20, 2008, granted the defense counsels1 motion and subsequently released the 12 murder suspects on the Criminal Appearance bond.

  Judge Holt regretted that the pre-trail of the case at the

  Predicated upon this, he placed the defendants under the security  of the Chairman of the Resilient Council of E1ders of Grand Bassa County, Rev. Dr. Abba Q. Karnga for appearance in court when they are needed by  the court,  at the bond fee of USD$489.OO payable to Government’s Revenue.

  The Court requested that the evidence produced during the preliminary Investigation should be forwarded to the Grand Jury for conviction of the defendants and subsequent hearing of the case during the May Term of Court, A.D.2008

  It can be recalled that the defendants were charged with murder in connection with the brutal killing of the plantation manager of LAC, the late Bruao Michael, a national during a survey of LAC’s extension program near Zondoe Town , in District No. Four in November last year.