Before the court carried on with the trial within trial (voir dire), the Director of Public Prosecution, AM Yusuf showed the voluntary statements of the first accused and appealed for the documents to be checked before starting the mini trial.
The voir dire was recorded in court last Monday by the presiding judge and was lifted yesterday for the hearing of the documents presented by the DPP, A.M Yusuf.
During the course of the examination in chief by the DPP, the witness, Ebou Sowe, confirmed that he recorded the voluntary statements of the accused, Ousainou Bojang.
After going through the documents, Defence Counsel Darboe objected to all the documents the accused disagreed with, adding that in the same charges, the accused agreed and disagreed, which are the same documents, and “he would disagree on that too”.
Counsel Mboge, counsel for the second accused Amie Bojang, associated himself with counsel Darboe, saying that some of the intended documents to be tendered were duplicated.
Having heard both defence counsel’s reactions, Justice Jaiteh ruled that all the voluntary statements agreed by the defence counsel of the accused would be admitted into evidence. He, therefore, suspended the main trial and proceeded with the mini trial accordingly.
The witness, Ebou Sowe, who appeared to be the first witness in the trial-within-trial, testified that the accused was brought at the Banjulinding Anti-Crime unit as the principal suspect in relation to the shooting incident that happened at the Sukuta Jabang Traffic Light, which resulted in the death of two police officers and a female police officer who was injured and left in critical condition battling for her life.
He recalled that 14 September was the second day of the accused in detention and he was subjected to investigation in relation to the shooting incident.
He added that the accused was interrogated by a panel and he confessed to have been responsible for the shooting incident, saying the accused led the investigation at the crime scene as well as his escape route after “killing” those police officers.
The witness further stated that the investigation led to the arrest of the second accused, Amie Bojang. “About 23 good hours I obtained a cautionary statement from him at this time, there was no independent witness,” he said.
The witness explained that it was late in the night before he wrote the statement, he said. He said he read the cautionary warning to the accused and told him he needed not to say anything unless he wished to and anything he said would be used as evidence. “This was translated to him in Wolof even though he confirmed to understanding English, as he is literate,” Ebou Sowe added.
He further narrated that the statement was translated in Wolof because it was the choice of the accused, adding that he informed him that he had the right to make his own statement but the accused allowed him to write.
“The accused narrated his statement in Wolof, which I wrote in English and I translated it in Wolof”, adding that the accused confirmed the statement to be correct and he gave the accused the said statement to read and confirm it. He said the accused thumb printed the statement and he endorsed it with his details
When asked about the general condition of the accused after his statement had been recorded, the witness responded that the accused was in “sound health” condition.
The DPP further asked if the accused was drugged but the defence counsel for the second accused objected to that, saying the question was a leading question, and the presiding judge asked the prosecution to move to another question.
The case was adjourned until 5 February 2024.
