Charles Taylor’s defense team will finally have the chance to make their closing argument on Wednesday this week, bringing an end to an almost one month impasse that plagued the former Liberian president’s trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague. The schedule for the defense to make their closing argument was [...]
March
3
2011
Appeals Chamber Directs Trial Chamber To Accept Defense Final Brief and Schedules Defense Closing Argument
Today, Appeals Chamber judges at the Special Court for Sierra Leone issued a decision granting an appeal by Charles Taylor’s defense team. The Appeals Chamber judges reversed the decision of the Trial Chamber to reject the defense final brief and also ordered the Trial Chamber to schedule a date and time for Mr. Taylor’s defense to make their [...]
March
2
2011
New Surprises Bedevil the Charles Taylor Trial
Another week, another twist at the Charles Taylor trial. Just ten days ago, the proceedings hit an unexpected impasse when Taylor’s lead defense counsel, Courtenay Griffiths, learned that his final brief—which had been delivered late—would not be accepted by the court. Griffiths declared that, absent the final brief, he did not see any further role [...]
February
25
2011
Trial Chamber Not Properly Constituted, Disciplinary Hearings For Charles Taylor’s Lawyer Cannot Take Place
The disciplinary hearing for Charles Taylor’s lead defense counsel Courtenay Griffiths, which was scheduled to take place today, was adjourned as the Trial Chamber could not be properly constituted. Griffiths was to be subject to a disciplinary hearing for walking out of the court on Tuesday, February 8, 2011 after he had made complaints about the rejection of the defense [...]
February
24
2011
Charles Taylor’s Lawyer Now Needs a Lawyer Himself
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 [...]
