For more than three years, the charismatic defense lawyer Courtenay Griffiths has stood in front of international judges, arguing that former Liberian president Charles Taylor is not responsible for the horrific rapes, murders, and mutilations committed during Sierra Leone’s 11 years civil conflict. This week, Griffiths will walk back into the same courtroom, this time, [...]
February
16
2011
Déjà Vu at the Charles Taylor Trial
In an unexpected moment of symmetry last week, on Tuesday, February 8, the defense lawyer for former Liberian president Charles Taylor walked out of court. At a break, Taylor himself left the courtroom and did not return. The gesture of dramatic defiance from the defense, the prosecution left to speak before an empty defendant’s box—you [...]
February
11
2011
Defense Lawyers To Appeal Decision To Reject Final Trial Brief
Defense lawyers for Charles Taylor will now have the chance to appeal the Trial Chamber’s decision to reject their final trial brief. The defense appeal will be lodged before a panel of five judges of the Appeals Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. The decision to allow defense lawyers to file an appeal came after their [...]
February
10
2011
Prosecutors Ask For Investigation; Say Defense Investigator Attempted To Bribe Prosecution Witnesses To Change Their Evidence
Prosecutors in the trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor have asked judges in The Hague to institute an “investigation into contempt” based on allegations that a defense investigator and other persons have attempted to bribe prosecution witnesses in order to have them recant their evidence before the Special Court for Sierra Leone. In a [...]
February
10
2011
Judges Order Taylor’s Defense Lawyer To Appear In Court on Friday
The Special Court for Sierra Leone judges in The Hague yesterday issued an order for Charles Taylor’s defense lawyer to appear before them on Friday, February 11, 2011. Mr. Taylor’s trial in The Hague has been a center of drama this week as the former Liberian president’s defense lawyer, Courtnay Griffiths, walked out of the courtroom [...]
For a second day, Charles Taylor’s defense team refused to appear in court to take part in the closing arguments of the former Liberian president’s trial in The Hague. The Court was scheduled to hear closing arguments from both prosecution and defense lawyers this week. When proceedings commenced yesterday to hear the closing arguments from [...]
Charles Taylor’s defense lawyer Courtenay Griffiths stormed out of court this morning after telling the Special Court for Sierra Leone judges that the defense was not prepared to take part in the closing arguments of the trial scheduled to commence today. The Court had been scheduled to hear closing arguments this week from both the prosecution and [...]
February
7
2011
Lawyers Get Their Final Say at the Charles Taylor Trial
In tailored suits and with gold cufflinks matching his gold-rimmed glasses, Charles Taylor has spent much of the past three years sitting largely impassively in a courtroom in The Hague, occasionally writing notes to his lawyers, and listening as witnesses described tales of horror to a panel of judges. Prosecutors say the former Liberian president [...]
January
27
2011
With Anticipation, Sierra Leoneans Look Forward to Final Judgment in the Charles Taylor Trial
Mabinty Kargbo was just 15 years old when Sierra Leonean rebels cut off her hands and killed her parents in front of her during the country’s horrific 11 year war. Now, she waits anxiously to hear whether the former Liberian President, Charles Taylor, was behind the rebel crimes as his trial draws to a close [...]
January
21
2011
At Status Conference, Defense Lawyers Say They Will Not File Final Trial Brief Until Outstanding Matters Are Dealt With
Charles Taylor’s defense team will not file any final trial briefs until several outstanding motions before the Trial and Appeals Chamber are disposed of, the former Liberian president’s lead defense counsel, Courtenay Griffiths, told the Special Court for Sierra Leone judges at a status conference Thursday in The Hague. The status conference had been convened [...]
