Monrovia — The Sixth Judicial Circuit, Civil Law Court "B," presided over by Judge Peter Gbeneweleh, is expected to rule on November 28, 2025, on whether the jury verdict in the fiercely contested intestate estate case of the late Millad Hage -- involving Oumou Hage Sirleaf and her stepdaughter, Nohad Hage Mensah -- should be set aside for a new trial.
A trial jury had unanimously found Nohad Hage Mensah guilty of falsifying deeds belonging to the estate of the late Millad Hage without the consent or knowledge of her stepmother and siblings.
However, in her motion for a new trial, Nohad's lawyers argued that the verdict was "clearly contrary to the weight of the evidence" presented during the proceedings.
According to the motion, "the trial jury ignored and disregarded this Court's instructions in their deliberations." The defense further argued that Nohad's deeds were older than those of her stepmother and siblings, and that the surveyor who testified confirmed the validity of her deeds and the accuracy of his survey report.
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They also contended that evidence showed it was the stepmother who allegedly committed fraud and misrepresentation, citing claims that their deeds were placed at Ecobank because Mr. Milad K. Hage had taken a loan -- an assertion they described as false. Instead, they argued that it was Oumou Sirleaf who was the mortgagor, provided her version of the deeds to the bank, and not the late Milad Hage.
But in a counter-argument, lawyers representing Oumou Sirleaf said the unanimous jury verdict was rendered in a fraud-in-title proceeding certified to the Civil Law Court by the Monthly and Probate Court for Montserrado County, pursuant to a mandate of the Supreme Court of Liberia dated September 5, 2022.
They argued that the motion for a new trial is "procedurally defective, jurisdictionally void, and substantively baseless," citing three main points. The lawyers argued that the Civil Law Court lacks authority and jurisdiction to hear a motion for a new trial or enter final judgment in a matter that originated from the Probate Court and was certified solely for jury determination of a factual question; that Nohad Hage Mensah failed to meet any statutory grounds required for granting a new trial under Civil Procedure Law §26.4; and the jury's verdict is fully supported by the evidence and reached in accordance with the law, and therefore cannot be disturbed except under circumstances recognized by the Supreme Court, which they say are "entirely absent" in this case.
The lawyers further noted that the motion constitutes a collateral attack on the jury's fact-finding role and an attempt to invite the Civil Law Court to deviate from the Supreme Court's mandate -- an act they say the law prohibits.
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They cited the Supreme Court's 2022 opinion in Oumou Sirleaf Hage et al. v. Judge Boima Kontoe and Nohad Hage, which instructed that the Probate Court certify the title question to the Civil Law Court for jury trial and afterward proceed in accordance with the law.
During arguments on the motion, Cllr. Arthur T. Johnson urged the court to immediately transmit the jury's verdict to the Probate Court for final decree in strict compliance with the Supreme Court's mandate. He referenced precedents from Sherman et al. v. Tolbert, Weaver v. Pearson, and Dukuly v. Sherman et al., emphasizing that respondents should be granted any further relief to which they may be legally entitled.
