Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA —  A man from Le Aute who was released from custody pursuant to an order from District Court Judge Fiti Sunia after his case was dismissed yesterday, was re-arrested while waiting for a bus to go home.

Lafaele Sefo — who also had a warrant in the High Court — appeared in District Court yesterday morning for his pretrial conference (PTC), regarding an incident that occurred in Malaeimi in July, where he was involved in a fight with another man.

He was represented by Assistant Public Defendant, Ryan Anderson, while prosecuting the case was Assistant Attorney General, Laura Garvey.

When Sefo’s PTC was called, Garvey informed the court that the government is unable to prove their case against the defendant, therefore, she’s asking that the case be dismissed.

Sunia, with a shocked look on his face, asked the government attorney about the basis for the motion to dismiss.

While Garvey was trying to respond, Sunia immediately stopped her and said, “No.”

Sunia then said that the case against the defendant is dismissed; therefore, Sefo is released from custody. The TCF police officer who transports inmates to the court acknowledged Sunia’s order.

Sefo was immediately released from custody by the court marshal, pursuant to the court's order.

Another Assistant Attorney General, Woodrow Pengelly, who is handling felony cases for the government in High Court, and was aware of the High Court's bench warrant for Sefo, was present in the courtroom when Sefo was released.

When Pengelly overheard Judge Sunia’s order to release Sefo from custody, he quickly reacted, making his way to the front, while at the same time, the court marshal was escorting Sefo outside of the courtroom so he could be released from custody.

The court’s calendar continued and the next matter was called out by the Clerk of the Court.

Immediately afterwards, Pengelly informed the court about the situation, saying Sefo is to be held in custody pursuant to a bench warrant from the High Court.

After hearing this, Sunia said if Sefo has a warrant from the High Court, he should be in custody despite an order from the District Court.

“I can’t cancel the High Court warrant,” Sunia said.

“Is the defendant still here?” Sunia asked. There was no response from the court.

Sunia then instructed the Clerk of the Court to call the defendant’s case. The Clerk did so, and again, there was no response.

It was at that time that the court marshal informed Judge Sunia that Sefo had already been released pursuant to the court order.

Sunia asked the TCF officer to check if Sefo was released, and the officer said yes.

The judge then turned to Sefo’s defense attorney, Anderson and asked him whether he was aware of his client’s warrant from the High Court. Anderson said no.

Sunia paused for few seconds before he mentioned something about the Rules of Professional Conduct, that all attorneys inside the courtroom should be aware of. He also spoke about TCF procedures on releasing people from custody that all TCF police officers should know and follow.

According to Sunia, once the court orders someone to be released from custody, that person must be transported back to the TCF to sign an official release form before he/she is officially released.

While the court was still discussing Sefo’s case, a TCF officer who was at the courthouse stepped out to locate Sefo.

Samoa News understands that Sefo was re-arrested while he was at the Fagatogo Pavilion waiting for a bus to go home. He has been remanded back to custody.

DISMISSED CASE

Sefo, along with co-defendant Oliva Toimoana, were arrested after a fight broke out in Malaeimi earlier this year in July.

Sefo was facing charges of public peace disturbance, third degree assault, and criminal contempt.

The government claims that on Saturday, July 28, police were contacted about a fight in Malaeimi.

According to what witnesses told police, Toimoana stopped by the market to collect rent money for the market stalls, located in Malaeimi. When he got to the stall being leased by Sefo, Tiomoana allegedly reached over, grabbed the money, and jeered profanity while taking the money off the table.

Sefo got angry and allegedy challenged Toimoana to a fight, before punching him in the jaw.

BACKGROUND

Sefo was out on a $5,000 surety bond, charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine). One of the conditions of his release is that he appear in court every time his case is called.

When he failed to appear in High Court during a scheduled hearing on May 7, 2018, Chief Justice Michael Kruse issued a bench warrant for his arrest.