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MONROVIA, Liberia — The legal team and family of former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor say they withdrew their request for a preliminary examination to avoid presenting their defense without first obtaining full access to the prosecution’s evidence.
In a statement issued Monday, September 7, the team said it initially requested the examination because Howard-Taylor had not been served with a grand-jury indictment detailing the specific allegations against her.
The preliminary examination would have allowed the Monrovia City Court to determine whether the government had established probable cause to advance the case. It would not have determined Howard-Taylor’s guilt or innocence.
According to the statement, prosecutors opposed a defense request for access to evidence underlying the criminal complaint. The defense said the court sustained the prosecution’s objection, limiting its ability to review potentially favorable material and meaningfully question government witnesses.
“Rather than allow the preliminary stage to become a platform for unproven theories without the safeguard of full discovery, we have chosen to proceed directly to trial,” the statement said.
The Monrovia City Court granted the defense’s request to withdraw the preliminary examination on September 7. The withdrawal does not dismiss the charges, establish probable cause or constitute an admission of guilt.
The defense’s description of proceeding “directly to trial” does not mean a trial can begin immediately. If no grand-jury indictment has been returned, prosecutors would ordinarily still need to complete the applicable indictment and Circuit Court procedures before Howard-Taylor could be formally tried.
Her lawyers maintained that, as of September 7, the government had filed a criminal complaint but had not secured a grand-jury indictment. KMTV has not independently obtained an indictment or a complete court record confirming whether one has since been returned.
Howard-Taylor was arrested on August 19 and accused of drug trafficking, money laundering, criminal conspiracy and other offenses connected to an alleged transnational narcotics network. The Liberian government also announced charges against three foreign nationals who were not in custody.
The former vice president denies all the allegations. Her legal team said public statements and some media reports have incorrectly created the impression that she has already been indicted or convicted.
“A complaint is not an indictment, and an indictment, if ever returned, would not be a conviction,” the statement said.
The family and legal team called on government officials to distinguish allegations from proven facts and avoid comments that could prejudice the proceedings. They also urged journalists to verify the case’s procedural status and asked civil-society, religious and human-rights organizations to advocate for due process and humane treatment.
The statement emphasized that Howard-Taylor is not requesting special treatment but the constitutional protections afforded to every accused person, including humane treatment, an impartial proceeding and the presumption of innocence.
The prosecution has not publicly responded to the defense’s explanation for withdrawing the preliminary examination. It also remains unclear when the matter will advance to a grand jury or Criminal Court “C,” whether the government will provide the requested evidence during pretrial discovery, and how testimony already presented during the incomplete examination will be treated.
Howard-Taylor remains presumed innocent unless prosecutors prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of competent jurisdiction.
