The trial of Ousainou Bojang & Amie Bojang police shooting continued with a testimony regarding digital evidence, the alleged audio recording between Mama Jabbi and Ousainou Bojang.
Director of Public Prosecutions A.M. Yusuf appeared for the State. Counsel J. Jeng and Counsel F. Bondi represented the first accused, while Counsel A. Sillah represented the second accused.
Leading the defence proceedings in the absence of Counsel Lamin J. Darboe, Counsel J. Jeng called their twelve witness, Ebrima Charty, a clerk at Dabanani Chambers and a resident of New Jaswang.
Clerk Charty testified that he knew the first accused, Ousainou Bojang. He explained his role in the case was to download a video recording featuring “Mama Jabbi and Ousainou” from the Kerr Fatou YouTube channel.
He testified that downloading the video to his functional personal laptop. He then converted the video to an audio file and transferred it to a flash drive.
The flash drive, which he described as silver-coloured, was given to Counsel Lamin J. Darboe. Clerk Charty confirmed he had signed an affidavit related to the process, which he could identify by his signature and also would be able identified the flash drive he stored the audio into.
Counsel Jeng applied for the audio to be played in court, an application the State Counsel did not object to. Presiding Judge Justice Jaiteh granted the application.
However, when the flash drive was inserted into the court computer, the audio failed to play. Counsel Jeng sought to substitute the malfunctioning flash drive with another containing the same audio. DPP Yusuf objected, arguing the witness had only testified to transferring the audio to a flash drive and not flash drives. Justice Jaiteh overruled the objection, noting the need to allow the defence to present its case.
The substitution was granted after the witness confirmed he had, in fact, transferred the audio to multiple flash drives.
The substituted flash drive was played in open court. The audio allegedly contained a conversation where Mama Jabbi was heard accusing Ousainou Bojang of killing two police officers “to dirty the President Barrow.” The witness confirmed the voices belonged to Ousainou Bojang and Mama Jabbi.
Following the playback, Counsel Jeng moved to tender the audio and the accompanying affidavit into evidence. Counsel Sillah for the second accused did not object to the audio’s admissibility.
DPP Yusuf objected, stating the State had not been served with the audio. DPP also raised that the audio was in a local language, not the language of the court, and requested a formal transcript be provided.
Justice Jaiteh granted Counsel Jeng’s subsequent application for the audio to be transcribed into the court’s language to able the state counsel to cross examine the clerk Chatty regarding the audio.
Citing Section 166 of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA), DPP Yusuf applied to recall Defence Witness 11 (DW11) for further cross-examination. Both defence Counsels vehemently objected.
Counsel Jeng argued that the DPP must make a formal application before the court. Counsel Sillah argued for finality in litigation, stressing that witness DW11 had already undergone vigorous cross-examination by Counsel Wakawa, who had declared it his final question in his cross examination.
Counsel Sillah further informed the court that the witness DW11 (“the white lady”) had already left the jurisdiction.
Justice Jaiteh ruled that for an order to recall the witness to be made, it must first be established whether DW11 is still in the country. The court noted the witness had previously testified to residing in the UK, only owning a compound in Brufut.
The court ordered the defence Counsel to verify the witness’s presence in the jurisdiction. The court registrar was also instructed to call DW11’s UK number for verification.
The case adjourned to November 18, 2025, at 13:00.
by Kexx Sanneh
