IN AN ALLEGED ATTEMPTED MURDER CASE
Monrovia, Liberia – American missionary Lucas Richards was declared not guilty of the charges of criminal contempt to commit murder and aggravated assault in the case involving defendant Richards and Miss Jessica Lloyd by Presiding Judge Nelson Chinneh of Criminal Court “B.”
A grand jury in Montserrado County indicted the defendant on December 14, 2023, for the offense of second-degree felonies of aggravated assault and criminal attempt to commit murder.
Defendant Richards faced charges of Aggravated Assault and Criminal Attempt to Commit Murder from the Liberian government. According to the accusation, the defendant intentionally gave Jessica Lloyd, a private prostrix, an unknown chemical by injection on September 14, 2023, with the goal of ending her three-month pregnancy.
The state additionally claimed in the indictment that the defendant, realizing the private proscutrix was weak and defenseless due to the injection and dosage, used her in the Palm Farm Community, Township of Dixville, Montserrado County, with the intent to commit a crime, striking Jessica Lloyd in the forehead.
“It is the ruling of this court that considering the fact, circumstances, and the laws controlling, the defendant is hereby adjudged not guilty of the crimes of Aggravated Assault and Criminal Attempt to Commit Murder,” stated Judge Chinneh on April 17, 2024. This ruling orders the defendant’s return of any applicable bail bond and discharges him from any further response to these allegations.
He also disclosed that, in the absence of any proof linking the defendant to the admission of the crimes against him, the victim’s testimony predominates above all other evidence to the contrary.
Judge Chinneh defended his decision by stating that there is no question about the fact that Jessica Lloyd was hurt on September 14, 2023, while going for a ride with Defendant Richards. He went on to say that there is no question about the location or timing of the injuries.
The Judge continued, that the only unresolved issue is who hurt Jessica Lloyd, the victim? Judge Chinneh did point out that the court needs to conduct a thorough examination into certain claims and counterclaims that were made throughout the case trial.
Judge Chinneh mentioned one of these claims: the state said the defendant caused the wounds, although the defendant and other members of the irate audience claim someone else was responsible. Judge Chinneh stated that the information presented to the court describes defendant Lucas Richards and Ernest Philip as two individuals who were battered by the enraged mob.
The judge added that defendant Lucas Richards was accused by Ernest Philip of committing the offenses. The judge also decided that Jessica Lloyd, a general witness, had admitted to the jury that she had been hit and had never realized she had been hurt.
The court, responding to Jessica’s claims, said, it is unusual for a victim who was unconscious to become a witness for an accident that happened to her while she was still unconscious.
