[1962]DLSC1725 • March 9, 1962 • Supreme Court •
THE STATE vs. ALI KASSENA
The appellant, Ali Kassena, was convicted of the murder of Puayaga Grunshie following a quarrel at a dance in the chief's house in Kumasi. The deceased was found dead on a public road near his house the same night. Blood stains were found on the appellant's clothes and palm. The appellant denied involvement, giving explanations for the blood stains. The prosecution's case was circumstantial, relying on hostile intentions, timing of events, and blood evidence.
read moreJUDGMENT OF CRABBE J.S.C. Crabbe J.S.C. delivered the judgment of the court. The appellant was convicted before Apaloo, J. sitting with a jury at the Criminal Session of the High Court at Kumasi on the 28th August, 1961, for the murder of one Puayaga Grunshie. Against this conviction he has appealed to this court. In order to appreciate the way in which the various questions in this appeal arise it is necessary to state in broad outline the case as presented by the prosecution. The evidence for the prosecution was that in the afternoon of the 12th February, 1961, the appellant and the deceased met at a dance in the house of the chief of the Grunshie community in Kumasi. When the dance came to an end at about 9 p.m. a quarrel arose between the appellant and the deceased in the chief’s house as a result of the exception which the appellant took to the amorous advances which the deceased was making towards his (appellant’s) brother’s wife. Shortly after this the deceased left th...