Strike out motion<\/strong>
\nThe Attorney General and others applied to strike out Lealailepules’ application for a judicial review of the Attorney-General\u2019s decision not to appeal the decision.<\/p>\nJudge Sa\u2019aga\u2019s 197-page decision was delivered in April 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cIts\u2019 delivery marked the culmination of years of wasted police and judicial resources, generated in large part by political intrigue, opportunism, vengeance and rumour,” said Justice Harrison.<\/p>\n
He noted that Lealailepule was dissatisfied with the acquittal verdicts.<\/p>\n
Justice Harrison pointed out that Lealailepule \u201cview his self-described status as complainant and victim in the trial of the respondents as sufficient to give him standing to challenge by way of judicial review the Attorney General\u2019s decision not to appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defendants in the high-profile case were Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Schmidt, former Member of Parliament Fepuleai Faimata Su\u2019a, (then suspended) Police Inspector Li\u2019o Faataumalamalama Auava, Lise Marie Schmidt, Samuelu (Sam) Fauega Sua, and Sivai Kepi.<\/p>\n
Laauli, Li\u2019o and Fepuleai were acquitted whilst Lise, Sam and Sivai were convicted on some of the charges.<\/p>\n
The complainant was Lealailepule and the police.<\/p>\n
Postscript<\/strong>
\nIn summing up the case, Justice Harrison added a postscript to his decision about Lealailepule\u2019s claim that the decision to acquit the charges against Laauli and two others has had an effect on him.<\/p>\nThe effect is the online attack on him and his family and has tarnished his 30 years of public service, his leadership and identity.<\/p>\n
Whilst Justice Harrison\u00a0acknowledged Lealailepule\u2019s distress, he said the damage was done well before the 2025 trial of Samuelu (Sam) Fauega and others in the District Court and the 2026 decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat decision could not affect Mr. Aiafi\u2019s legal rights or undo the damage caused by years of unsubstantiated rumour,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Justice Harrison said the end outcome of the prosecution of Fauega and the other respondents proved very little except to affirm the falsity of Fauega\u2019s allegations, and their acquittals in a very confined criminal context could not objectively have had any possibly adverse effect on Lealailepule.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lagi Keresoma\/ Apia, SAMOA – 10 September 2026: The Court has dismissed the MP Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafis’ application for a judicial review of the District Court Senior Judge Talasa Atoa Sa\u2019aga\u2019s decision that acquitted Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Schmidt and others. Judge Sa\u2019aga\u2019s decision was delivered in April this year and Lealailepule applied […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[182,188],"tags":[59,7342,7341],"class_list":["post-62150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-court","category-law-order","tag-featured","tag-justice-rhys-harrisson","tag-lealailepules-application-to-appeal-decision-dismissed"],"yoast_head":"\n
Court dismisses Lealailepule\u2019s application for a judicial review - Talamua Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=62150\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Court dismisses Lealailepule\u2019s application for a judicial review - Talamua Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Lagi Keresoma\/ Apia, SAMOA – 10 September 2026: The Court has dismissed the MP Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafis’ application for a judicial review of the District Court Senior Judge Talasa Atoa Sa\u2019aga\u2019s decision that acquitted Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Schmidt and others. 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