MONROVIA – Criminal Court “B” Judge Wesseh A. Wesseh has upheld the guilty verdict against Sam Wolobah, rejecting a motion for retrial in the case involving the death of a patient after an unauthorized surgical procedure.
The ruling, delivered on Thursday, September 25, 2024, confirmed that prosecutors proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt. Judge Wesseh declared that the jury’s majority verdict would remain “undisturbed, upheld, confirmed and affirmed,” dismissing the defense’s motion as “denied and rejected.”
According to court records, Wolobah, who was recognized only as an Operating Room Technician by the Liberia Medical and Dental Council (LMDC), diagnosed a patient with appendicitis and Hepatitis B, and demanded a fee to perform surgery. Despite lacking a medical license, he allegedly carried out the operation, which resulted in the patient’s death on March 19, 2025.
Judge Wesseh emphasized that Wolobah had no authority to conduct surgery, describing him as comparable to a nurse or physician assistant permitted only to assist doctors, not perform independent procedures. “The prosecution clearly established the guilt of the defendant,” the judge said, stressing that his actions were “so egregious” that they warranted criminal accountability.
The trial began on August 18, 2025, with a 15-member jury empaneled. Wolobah pleaded not guilty but was later convicted by a majority jury decision. With the guilty verdict now affirmed, the case moves to the sentencing phase, pending the completion of a Pre-Sentence Hearing Investigation Report.
Judge Wesseh cited long-standing Liberian legal precedents, including Dandy v. Republic of Liberia (1972) and Bestment v. Republic (2013), to emphasize that the prosecution had met the legal threshold and that the burden of proof excluded any reasonable hypothesis of innocence.
The sentencing hearing will be scheduled once the report is finalized and notice of assignment is issued.
