[1973]DLCA2296 • November 22, 1973 • Court of Appeal
MELFA vs. THE REPUBLIC
The appellant was involved in a violent altercation at the Credo Bar where the deceased, who was of violent temper, initiated aggression. The appellant attempted to separate the deceased from a fight with his friends but was subsequently attacked by the deceased. After being beaten and warned, the appellant stabbed the deceased with a broken bottle during the continued assault.
read moreSowah J.A. delivered the judgment of the court. We have listened carefully to the able submission made by Mr. Okyere-Darkoh in his attack on the conviction of the appellant but in the end he had to concede that with the evidence as it stood no reasonable jury could have brought in any other verdict than that the appellant was guilty of manslaughter. He, however, submitted that the totality of the evidence indicated that the deceased was the aggressor all through this unfortunate incident. He referred to the evidence of the principal witnesses which showed that there was no previous animosity between the appellant and the deceased. The appellant had gone to the Credo Bar to have a drink and was sitting at a table quite different from that at which the deceased and his friends were. The deceased had a quarrel with one of his own friends and a fight developed between them. The appellant did what any reasonable man would do, by trying to separate the two. The deceased picked upon the ap...