Lawyers representing the five accused lawmakers in the December 18, 2024, arson attack on the Capitol Building have outrightly rejected the ‘social media’ evidence.
During the second appearance of a witness, the state prosecutors presented ‘social media recording and or picturesque’ as evidence in the case against the accused lawmakers.
But the defense lawyers for the accused referred to the ‘social media’ evidence as “unreliable and unverifiable.”
Meanwhile, a political commentator has described the social media as a “feasting ground of (all kinds of) information.
Open-source media refers to media projects and products (like software) where the source code is publicly available for anyone to view, modify, and distribute under a specific license, according to Number Analytics. This allows for increased collaboration, innovation, and accessibility in the media industry.
With this definition, and during a hearing at the Monrovia City Court on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, lawyers for former House Speaker J. Fonati Koffa, and others (all sitting lawmakers) to include Abu B. Kamara, Jacob Debee, and Dixon Seboe criticized the use of social media content as evidence.
The prosecution’s key witness, Rafael A. Wilson, a chief police investigator, testified that the evidence was gathered from open sources, including social media.
On the contrary, and to the disbelief of onlookers, Wilson failed to identify which specific media platform the content in evidence came from.
Under questioning, Wilson defined ‘open source’ as public information.
He said Koffa and Kamara acknowledged partial recordings, but suggested the clips may have been altered or created using artificial intelligence (AI) platform.
Defense lawyer, Jonathan Massaquoi, challenged the credibility of the evidence, arguing that without a specific source, the court should not admit into evidence the material.
Wilson later claimed the audio came from WhatsApp’s conversations found on phones belonging to two other defendants (not named).
The four lawmakers face multiple charges, including arson, attempted murder, and conspiracy.
The case continues
Source: Melvin Jackson/spoon