[1966]DLSC1644 • June 3, 1966 • Supreme Court •
AKOM vs. THE STATE
The appellant, Kwasi Akom, was convicted of murdering his aunt, Akua Akyia, by cutting her throat with a razor blade during a gathering at a village house. The appellant admitted causing the injury but claimed the killing was accidental, occurring when he brandished what he thought was a lighter to fend off attackers who were assaulting him. Relations between appellant and deceased were strained due to a dispute over a customary village position.
read moreJUDGMENT OF LASSEY J.S.C. Lassey J.S.C. delivered the judgment of the court. On 12 November 1964 the appellant, Kwasi Akom, was found guilty of the offence of the murder of one Akua Akyia on 12 May 1964 at Danso village in Ashanti after a trial before Attoh J. and a jury in the High Court, Kumasi. From this conviction the appellant has appealed to this court. After hearing the whole of the evidence and listening carefully to the judge’s summing-up the jury had no difficulty in coming to the unanimous verdict that the appellant was guilty of the murder complained of and charged. However, in this court the summing-up of the trial judge has been impeached on the ground that it contained several misdirections or non-directions the cumulative effect of which was that it caused considerable confusion in the minds of the jury, and consequently led to or resulted in a substantial miscarriage of justice. The recorded evidence led at the trial showed clearly that it was the appellant wh.....