MONROVIA, LIBERIA – The criminal case involving former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor is moving into another legal phase after her defense team withdrew its request for a preliminary examination, redirecting its courtroom strategy toward bail and a broader challenge to the statutory and constitutional foundation of the prosecution.
The defense’s decision ends its pursuit of a preliminary examination that had been expected to provide an early opportunity to test the government’s allegations and evidence. On Thursday, September 17, 2026, Magistrate L. Ben Barco granted the defense request to withdraw the examination, with the Clerk of Court directed to communicate the development to Criminal Court “C,” where the case is pending.
The decision followed weeks of procedural developments surrounding Taylor’s case, including postponements connected to medical concerns and the eventual granting of compassionate home detention by Criminal Court “C.”
The preliminary examination had initially been requested by Taylor’s lawyers under Liberia’s Criminal Procedure Law. Proceedings had already begun, and prosecutors had introduced evidence before the defense withdrew the request. Reporting from the September 7 proceedings said the prosecution did not object to the withdrawal but maintained that evidence already presented had established probable cause against the accused.
The withdrawal now clears the way for the case to proceed through the next procedural stage rather than continuing with the preliminary examination previously sought by the defense.
Taylor’s lawyers are simultaneously pressing a new bail application before Criminal Court “C.” In a statement issued September 17, the Office of the Former Vice President said the defense filed a motion on September 16 asking the court to admit Taylor to bail on personal recognizance or under a bond.
The defense is basing its request in part on a challenge to the government’s reliance on Liberia’s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act of 2023. The lawyers contend that some of the alleged conduct occurred in 2021 and 2022, before the 2023 law was enacted, and therefore argue that the earlier law should govern the grading and bailability of those alleged offenses.
This position directly challenges the government’s legal basis for treating the charges as non-bailable under the 2023 statute. The defense argues that applying the later law to earlier alleged conduct would amount to unconstitutional retroactive criminal prosecution.
The government’s original charging statement, however, shows that Taylor was charged under the 2023 Controlled Drug and Substance Act, alongside the Penal Law and the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law. The Ministry of Justice said the charges arose from an ongoing investigation into an alleged transnational narcotics network operating within and beyond Liberia.
The charges include alleged unlicensed importation of controlled drugs or substances, alleged unlicensed sale, trading, administration, delivery, distribution and transportation of controlled substances, illicit trafficking, criminal conspiracy, criminal facilitation, criminal solicitation and money laundering.
The government has previously said the investigation was supported by evidence gathered by a joint national security investigative team. The prosecution has also alleged links between Taylor and individuals it identifies as members of a transnational narcotics network. Those allegations remain contested and have not been established by a final judgment.
Taylor’s arrest occurred on August 19 at Roberts International Airport when state security stopped her from leaving the country. She was subsequently taken into police custody and charged. Her lawyers have challenged the government’s allegations and the circumstances surrounding her arrest and detention.
Her medical condition subsequently became an important part of the proceedings. After Taylor was detained, her lawyers raised concerns about her health and sought compassionate relief. Criminal Court “C” later granted her compassionate medical release and ordered that she remain under strict home detention with 24-hour security while receiving medical care.
The new bail motion seeks relief beyond that medical arrangement. The defense wants Taylor formally admitted to bail while the criminal case proceeds and is asking the court to determine the applicable law governing the alleged offenses.
The legal dispute therefore now encompasses two distinct questions. The prosecution must pursue the criminal allegations against Taylor, while the defense is seeking to establish that the legal framework being applied to the alleged conduct cannot be used retroactively to convert offenses into non-bailable charges.
The defense is also relying on constitutional protections and Supreme Court precedent in challenging the continued detention. Its September 17 statement cites Article 21 of the Liberian Constitution and the 2025 Supreme Court decision in Republic of Liberia v. James Kollie et al. The government has yet to publicly respond to the specific arguments contained in the latest bail filing.
The case has attracted sustained public attention because Taylor served as Liberia’s Vice President from 2018 to 2024 and is among the highest-profile figures implicated in the government’s ongoing narcotics investigation. Independent international reporting has also documented the government’s allegations and Taylor’s continued denial through her legal team.
The withdrawal of the preliminary examination does not end the prosecution. Instead, it removes one procedural stage that the defense had previously requested and shifts attention toward the next steps in the case, including the government’s prosecution, the defense’s bail application and the court’s consideration of the legal challenges raised by Taylor’s lawyers.
At this stage, neither the government’s allegations nor the defense’s constitutional challenges constitute final judicial findings. The court remains responsible for determining the legal issues presented before it, while the criminal allegations must be established through the judicial process.
Taylor remains presumed innocent unless and until a competent court determines otherwise.
