ASKA FALEALI’I LAULU

The High Court has taken under advisement, with a decision to be issued later, a request by inmate Aska Faleali’i Laulu for work release, in order to earn money to care for his family and pay a court fine.

However, the court noted the importance of safety of the female victim, who is the mother of the inmate’s son, and the person that suffered in the hands of the defendant. The court also wants assurance and proof that there is a job for the inmate if granted work release.

Laulu’s attorney, assistant public defender, Michael White said that granting work release will allow the inmate to work. He also says that the defendant is remorseful of the crime, which resulted in him been sentenced to serve time behind bars.

While the government supports the defense’s request for work release, assistant attorney general Gerald Murphy however said the one major concern is the safety of the female victim, who was the common-law-wife of the defendant — they were living together, if the inmate is granted work release.

SAMUEL WRIGHT

The High Court last Friday granted inmate Samuel Wright’s “motion to proceed on appeal in forma pauperis”.  (Upon the court’s granting of ‘forma pauperis’ status or motion, the indigent person can proceed in court without payment of the usual fees associated with a lawsuit or appeal, according to Lectric Law Library website.)

Wright was sentenced in May last year to serve 35 years in jail after been convicted by a jury in early 2016 of first-degree robbery, unlawful use of a firearm and stealing — all felonies. Wright was one of the three defendants in the robbery at gunpoint of the Gold Conda store in Faga’alu May 2014.

Last year, the defendant sought a new trial arguing that new information and witnesses have surfaced and are expected to change the outcome of the jury’s verdict. Early this year, the defendant moved to appeal his conviction and sentence, and seek a new trial.

The government’s evidence presented at trial states that it was Wright who pointed the gun to the cashier and Wright and his co-defendants — who are also serving lengthy jail terms — made off with a money bag containing $300.

DAVID FO’A

The government has filed a new felony charge against David Fo’a as the High Court rejected a plea agreement, which was already signed by both sides.

Fo’a was in court last Friday for his change of plea hearing, which was continued from two weeks ago, because the court had some concerns with certain provisions of the plea agreement, in which the defendant was to plea guilty to a lesser burglary charge — but it was still a felony.

However, the court last Friday rejected the plea agreement and the government then announced that it has filed a new felony charge of second-degree burglary against the defendant, who allegedly broke into a family home. The new felony count has been filed in District Court.

(Original Samoan stories published in yesterday’s Lali section of Samoa News.)