In resistance to the State’s submission, the defendants waived their rights to jury trial and requested for a bench trial. Meaning that the judge of the court will served as both judge and jury ( Jury De Facto) in the trial of the case. In his ruling, Judge Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay denied the State application for jury trial and granted the defendants a bench trial. In response, the defendants (Weeks, Badio, Tamba and Farhai) interposes no objection to the prosecution’s submission. However, Judge Gbeisay also granted the prosecution request for the separate trial of defendant Melissa A. Emeh.

Source: Front Page Africa August 19, 2020 08:03 UTC