MONROVIA – Criminal Court “A” Judge Willie on Tuesday, December 3, 2025, denied a prosecution request to amend the indictment in the ongoing arson trial by adding District #12 Montserrado County lawmaker Jerry Yogboh as a new defendant, a move the defense slammed as an attempt to undermine the proceedings. The decision followed heated legal exchanges in court as state and defense lawyers battled over the legality and timing of the proposed amendment.
In his ruling, Judge Willie stated that the prosecution’s request did not meet the statutory requirement of correcting a “formal defect” in the indictment, which is the only legal ground for amendment after a trial has commenced. He emphasized that inserting a new defendant at this stage, after a jury has been seated and evidence has already begun, would be improper and would risk destabilizing the trial.
“The prosecution’s application is not in line with the statute. Adding a new defendant at this stage would disrupt the trial,” Judge Willie declared, stressing that the law does not support the type of amendment the state sought to make.
Defense lawyer Cllr. Wilkins Michael Wright strongly opposed the motion, accusing the prosecution of trying to collapse the existing jury and force the court to restart the entire trial. He argued that this was the real motivation behind the request, which he described as both legally flawed and procedurally reckless.
“This is an attempt to disband the entire selected jurors,” Cllr. Wright said, noting that Representative Yogboh’s name does not appear anywhere in the original indictment. He warned that granting such a request would require the court to revisit multiple completed stages of the trial.
“Bringing Rep. Yogboh into the case at this point,” he argued, “would require the Court to redo processes already completed, delay the trial, and risk violating the rights of defendants currently in detention.”
Judge Willie’s ruling keeps the structure of the trial intact, denying prosecutors the expansion they sought and reinforcing the court’s commitment to maintaining procedural fairness and legal consistency as the case continues.
