Monrovia — Petitioners in the protracted Hage estate dispute, including Oumou Sirleaf Hage and others, have petitioned the Supreme Court of Liberia for a Writ of Prohibition against Sixth Judicial Circuit Judge Peter W. Gbeneweleh, seeking to stop him from enforcing a ruling that set aside a unanimous jury verdict in a fraud-in-title case.
By Victoria G. Wesseh
In their petition, the litigants argue that Judge Gbeneweleh acted outside his jurisdiction and in violation of binding Supreme Court precedent when he nullified the jury’s verdict rather than transmitting it to the Probate Court for determination of property ownership.
The petitioners cite a 2022 Supreme Court decision in Oumou Sirleaf Hage et al. v. His Honour J. Boima Kontoe, which clearly directed that disputes over title be resolved through a trial of facts by a jury, with the resulting verdict sent to the Probate Court. According to the Supreme Court’s mandate, the trial court’s duty was non-discretionary: certify the question of title to the Sixth Judicial Circuit for jury trial and forward the verdict to the Probate Court.
However, the petitioners allege that Judge Gbeneweleh disregarded this mandate by setting aside the unanimous verdict, re-evaluating evidence, making his own factual findings, and refusing to transmit the verdict as ordered.
They further contend that the judge’s conduct is ultra vires, unconstitutional, and contrary to Liberian law, arguing that he improperly ordered a new trial instead of performing the ministerial act required by the Supreme Court.
Relying on Civil Procedure Law § 26.4, the petitioners maintain that a judge may set aside a jury verdict only upon a motion for a new trial filed within four days after the verdict. They assert that no such motion was timely filed, rendering the judge’s unilateral action an abuse of judicial discretion.
The petitioners also invoke precedent, including McArthur, 15 LLR 394, to argue that prohibition is the appropriate remedy to prevent a trial judge from taking further illegal action where jurisdiction has been exceeded.
Given what they describe as a clear departure from Supreme Court instructions, the petitioners are asking the high court to restrain Judge Gbeneweleh from enforcing his ruling and to compel the reinstatement and transmission of the original jury verdict to the Probate Court for final determination.
Background of the Case
The dispute centers on the estate of the late Hage family, involving competing claims over ownership and title to portions of the estate property. The conflict escalated into a fraud-in-title allegation, prompting litigation to determine the rightful ownership of the disputed assets.
Given the nature of the dispute, the matter reached the Supreme Court of Liberia in 2022 in the case Oumou Sirleaf Hage et al. v. His Honour J. Boima Kontoe. In that ruling, the Supreme Court held that questions of title and ownership must be resolved through a trial of facts by a jury in the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court. The high court further ordered that once the jury reached a verdict, the trial court was to certify and transmit the verdict to the Probate Court, which has jurisdiction to make the final determination on property distribution within an estate.
In compliance with the Supreme Court’s mandate, the question of title was subsequently tried before a jury in the Sixth Judicial Circuit. After hearing the evidence, the jury returned a unanimous verdict on the issue of fraud in title.
However, instead of transmitting the verdict to the Probate Court as instructed, the presiding judge, Judge Peter W. Gbeneweleh, set aside the jury’s decision and ordered further proceedings. This action reignited the dispute and prompted the petitioners to seek the Supreme Court’s intervention once again.
The petitioners now argue that the trial judge’s action amounts to a departure from the Supreme Court’s clear mandate, an overreach of judicial authority, and a violation of established civil procedure. They contend that the judge’s role was limited to forwarding the jury’s findings and that any deviation from that directive undermines the finality of jury verdicts and the authority of the Supreme Court.
The post Liberia: Hage Estate Dispute Heads to Supreme Court as Petitioners Challenge Judge Gbeneweleh’s Overturning of Jury Verdict appeared first on FrontPageAfrica.
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