District Court Judge Elvis Pila Patea has granted the motion to unseal the affidavit supporting the criminal charges the government has filed against two defendants in a high profile case: that of Manu Lefatia in his 20s and Tuliese Taliu, in his 30s, who are suspected of being behind the drive-by shooting in Leone last November.

Lefatia is charged with two counts of felony assault second-degree and property damage in the first degree while the codefendant, Taliu is facing charges of conspiring with Lefatia to commit two counts of assault second degree and property damage.

When the defendants appeared in court last Friday, the affidavit supporting the charges was under seal as per request by Assistant Attorney General Russell Smith who’s prosecutor in this matter. The request for the affidavit to be sealed was granted by the court. The prosecutor told Samoa News over the phone the government is concerned for the safety of the police officers, and allowing the affidavit to be viewed by the public could result in putting people in danger.

He told Samoa News there were two police officers inside the Police Station when the incident occurred and those officer’s names are mentioned in the affidavit.

Sharron Rancourt, who’s representing Lefatia, asked the court yesterday to unseal the affidavit and it was granted.

According to the affidavit in support of the arrest warrant of the defendants, on November 1, 2014 a police officer contacted the Central Police Station and reported a shooting at the Leone Substation building by unknown persons around 2:30a.m. Court filings say that two hours later, police who were assigned to investigate the case arrived at the scene.

According to preliminary reports, when the Leone Police Station was shot at, there were two police officers inside the building and it’s alleged that bullets penetrated the window and window frame at the front of the police station. “Those slugs were photographed, packaged and taken to the evidence room on the same date and the fourth slug that was trapped inside the window frame was later taken out and taken to the evidence room.”

Scene reconstruction and forensic analysis of the bullet trajectory conducted by the police indicated the bullets impacting the substation were fired from the main road. Court filings say they spoke with a juvenile (confidential informant-CI) who has a felony record, and who stated the defendants had planned a “mission” following the arrest of a sister of one of the defendants.

The investigating officer stated in court fillings that he investigated the defendants and two other men (who are still at large) and said they are known to distribute narcotics from the Aute bar in an organized manner and they are labeled as “runners”.

The government alleges that the CI further stated that on Halloween, he saw one of the suspects, who remains at large in a black four-door sedan drive up to the Aute, where he parked, and he saw Dukie (aka Tuliese Taliu) walk towards the car, “holding a gun”, which he then wrapped in a red lava lava and “then placed the gun under the rear seat” of the car. Dukie, Bird (aka Manu Lefatia) and another suspect then got into the car, which drove off from the Aute area.

The investigating officer stated that he personally witnessed one of the suspects who was still at large driving the a black 4-day sedan, and identifies the VIN number of the vehicle, as well as the registered owner’s name, while indicating that it “matches the description of the vehicle” identified by the CI.

The CI further told the police about a conversation that Lefatia and Taliu had, along with the two suspects at large, when they returned to the Aute at around 3 a.m. on Nov. 1, 2014. The CI said, Dukie (Taliu) did not want anything said about “what Bird (Lefatia) was shooting at, let’s keep this a secret.” However, one of the suspects, who walked away from Dukie, said out loud that “they just finished shooting the Leone Substation.” Dukie then stated that they drove past the substation twice to check it out, and on the third time they alleged that Lefatia shot at the police station.

The CI said that all of the defendants — including the ones at large — live at the Aute Bar and they are considered employees at the bar. The CI also informed the police that drugs were allegedly sold at the Aute and a woman name “mama” oversees the narcotics and she’s the owner of Aute. Police reviewed the business license and it was confirmed that “mama” is the listed owner of Aute.

It was also noted in the affidavit that during a re-interview with one of the CIs for clarification of his previous statements, the CI said he was scared of “Bird and his family”, that “they would retaliate against him with violence”.

Police spoke to two other juveniles, who have no police records, and other adults who corroborate the story told by the first CI to the police.

One of the CIs told the police that the alleged shooting of the police station was planned two days prior to the actual shooting. According to this CI, Lefatia and the other suspects were not happy that 19-year old Elsarina Lefatia, sister of Manu Lefatia (aka Bird), had been arrested.

BACKGROUND

The arrest of Elsarina Lefatia happened in October 2014, while the drive-by shooting occurred after midnight Saturday morning, Nov. 1, 2014.

In January of this year, Ms Lefatia was sentenced to jail for 20 months. She was charged with unlawful possession of controlled substance with intent to distribute, unlawful possession of controlled substance of methamphetamine and prohibited place of consumption. In a plea agreement with the government, she pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of controlled substance of methamphetamine. In return for her plea the government moved for the court to dismiss the remaining charges in this matter.

Kruse sentenced the defendant to five years in jail, however execution of sentence was stayed, and she’s placed on probation for five years under certain conditions.

She is currently serving her 20 months in jail.

Samoa News notes that Taliu Taliu has been in jail since November for a matter in High Court, where he pleaded guilty last month to unlawful possession of a controlled substance and possession of arms without a license and will be sentenced this month.