[1973]DLCA2294 • November 15, 1973 • Court of Appeal
LAMPTEY ALIAS MOROCCO vs. THE REPUBLIC
The appellant was convicted by a jury in the High Court, Accra, for the murder of Braimah Grumah, a school watchman. The prosecution's main evidence was a statement made by the appellant on the day of the incident and testimony from two witnesses who did not directly witness the fatal blow. The appellant and the deceased had a history of animosity related to the deceased's alleged illicit relations with the appellant's wife. On the day of the incident, a verbal altercation escalated into a physical fight involving a club and a cutlass, resulting in the death of the deceased from a skull fracture. The appellant claimed self-defense, stating he acted to prevent being cut by the deceased's cutlass.
read moreAnnan J.A. delivered the judgment of the court. The appellant was found guilty of the murder of a school watchman, Braimah Grumah, by a jury in the High Court, Accra, on 10 November 1972, and in his appeal to this court he raises seven grounds of misdirection in addition to the general ground that the verdict is unreasonable and cannot be supported having regard to the evidence. The prosecution’s case rested in the main on a statement made to the police by the appellant on the very day the incident occurred. In addition to the statement, exhibit A, the prosecution called the brother-in-law of the appellant, Emmanuel Lamptey, the first prosecution witness, and a watchman, Bukare Moshie, who lived near the scene. These witnesses, however, offered no direct evidence as to the circumstances in which the events leading to the death of Braimah Grumah had occurred and although Bukare Moshie described an occurrence which he said he had witnessed from a distance of 100 to 150 yards, it is rea.....