Popular lawyer, Melron C Nicol has cautioned Sierra Leoneans that LAC Broadcast should be looked at from several different criminological perspective. The Lawyer further asked several legal questions in relation to the said broadcast.
The Lawyer stated that Firstly , what is the intention of the broadcaster ? The intention is to present himself as an innocent man – no doubt .
Secondly , how truthful is his story ? This can be evaluated by looking at his statement made to the police when he was arrested . That statement was made at a time when his memory was fresh and when there was no likelihood of criminal contamination ( unlike now ) . Also we need to look at the statements of the 17 state/prosecution witnesses and see what they said that convinced the jury to find him guilty .
Thirdly , we must evaluate the diversion in the video and see whether it is criminal or innocent ? I noticed he moved from the central thrust of the broadcast to talking about religion , alleged wrongful conduct by the police , lawyers and the trial judge , wrong impressions created by the press ( eventhough the trial was not done by the press and journalists but by a judge and jury ) , his philanthropic gestures in prison etc
I will also ask several questions arising from his broadcast :
1. Why grant him a pardon when he has not exhausted judicial remedies and his appeal is before the court of appeal?
2. Was he effectively represented as lack of effective legal representation can be a ground of appeal in some jurisdictions . He mentioned CCTV footages not been presented at his trial . Assuming that is true , his lawyers should have insisted on same as an exculpatory piece of evidence .
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