The afternoon section continued with the cross examination of Malba Kamara by attorney Caridad. Through the testimony of the witness, the court learned that he was arrested by ATU soldiers and released from prison in late 2000. Upon his release, the witness testified to being afraid to go home and that he preferred to be amongst people. As a result, he decided to stay at his business which had an apartment attached to the building.
He went on to tell the court that upon his release from prison, he was told that he had to report to the executive mansion daily. He reported to the mansion on Monday and Tuesday with his uncle and Liberian lawyer but that on Wednesday he did not report to the mansion. The witness’ absence from the mansion on Wednesday was due to President Charles Taylor’s speech over the radio. The witness said that the president seemed angry and that his message implied that he would re-arrest the prisoners and that they would be beaten if found. The witness in fear of being re-arrested or killed met with a man name David Parker. The witness asked Mr. Parker for help and told him that he was afraid for his life. Mr. Parker then placed the witness in the trunk of his car and after one unknown stop, the witness testified that they ended up in a forest. He told the court that once he was at the forest, he saw his wife and son and that it wasn’t until they crossed the border in Guinea that they spoke to one another. The witness said that he only asked Mr. Parker for help and he had no idea that he would bring him, his wife, and child to the border to cross into Guinea.
Once at Guinea, the witness said that he went to visit the UN Embassy and they put him in contact with a UN officer. The UN took the witness and his family and put them up in a hotel for some time but that later they were moved to Ghana because Guinea was no longer safe for them. The witness and his family did not remain in Ghana, and later were sent to the United States.
The defense tried to get the witness to admit that he filled out an application for a United States visa while he was in Ghana but the witness said that what he did know not what he signed because he has poor eye sight and that he did not have a problem signing papers from people who were helping him. He needed help and would sign what he needed to get it. The witness lives in United States now and has a business here and has reactivated his business in Liberia. The defense attorney kept questioning the witness why he did not start his own business in Ghana and the witness said because he was afraid and did not know where to start and was not focused on starting a business at that point,
On re-direct the State just re-addressed what was talked about earlier and cleared up any confusion.
The second and last witness to take the stand for the afternoon portion was Dr. Bruce Hyma. He told the court what Mr. Kamara told him when he met with him for examination. The Dr. spoke about the arrest of the witness and some of the severe injuries he told the doctor he encountered.
The Court was shown various pictures of Mr. Kamara. The pictures range from photos of scars, the bullet wound on the shoulder, burns on the inner thigh, and damage done to the genital area. The Dr. stated that the wounds that appeared on Kamara body and his medical records corroborated Kamara’s story.
Defense attorney Caridad on cross examination, talked about reports of two other Dr.’s that examined Kamara. Dr. Hyma did not understand their reports and told the court they were ambiguous. Defense counsel implied that maybe Kamara’s wounds happened after 2002 and were not done by ATU soldiers and that all the Dr. had was Kamara’s statements and that the wounds cannot be accurately dated. Dr. Hyma admitted that anything was possible but that based on Kamara’s medical records and what he saw for himself, Kamara’s story seems credible. Dr. Hyma informed the court that if Kamara was lying down on a table as oppose to standing up, his scrotum would appear normal and maybe that was a possible reason for the ambiguity for the reports.
Court was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.
After the jury was excused for the day, attorney Caridad expressed his concern about being able to present witnesses tomorrow. The judge told the attorney that he could find a way to get into contact with at least five of the witnesses and that she will proceed with trial tomorrow at 9am.
0 Responses to “Wednesday, 10-22-08 1:45pm-4:30pm”