[1967]DLCA1550 • July 10, 1967 • Court of Appeal
YEBOAH vs. THE STATE
The appellant was convicted of the murder of Yaw Mensah following a violent altercation at Nkwanta village. The appellant claimed self-defence after a fight escalated involving cutlasses. The deceased was killed with multiple deep wounds, and the appellant was the sole eyewitness. The appellant alleged the deceased attacked him first and that he acted in extreme necessity to save his life.
read moreJUDGMENT OF AZU CRABBE J.A. Azu Crabbe J.A. delivered the judgment of the court. The appellant in this case was convicted on 28 February 1966, before Archer J., sitting with a jury, of the murder of one Yaw Mensah on 23 October 1965, at Nkwanta village, in the Central Region of Ghana, and was sentenced to death. Against this conviction and sentence he has now appealed to this court. The appellant was the only eyewitness to the crime, and it would appear that the sole issue at the trial was whether the appellant killed the deceased in self-defence. No question of credibility arises in this appeal, and the only point is whether the inference to be drawn from the proved facts supports the plea of self-defence according to the law of Ghana. Our law which is contained in section 37 of the Criminal Code, 1960 (Act 29), reads: “For the prevention of, or for the defence of himself or any other person against any crime, or for the suppression or dispersion of a riotous or unlawful assemb.....