AMETEWEE vs. THE STATE [1964]DLSC1866

Date	1964-11-06
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1964]DLSC1866

MILLS-ODOI JSC

ACOLATSE JSC

BRUCE-LYLE J.S.C.

D.K. AFREH FOR THE APPELLANT.

A.N. E. AMISSAH DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS (WITH HIM J.N.K. TAYLOR SENIOR STATE ATTORNEY) FOR THE RESPONDENT.

[1964]DLSC1866
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >AMETEWEE<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;vs.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;THE STATE <o:p></o:p>[SUPREME COURT]<o:p></o:p>[1964] GLR 551<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

DATE:
6 NOVEMBER 1964.<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

D.K. AFREH FOR THE APPELLANT.<o:p></o:p>

A.N. E. AMISSAH, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS
(WITH HIM J.N.K. TAYLOR, SENIOR STATE ATTORNEY), FOR THE RESPONDENT.<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:
<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

MILLS-ODOI, ACOLATSE AND BRUCE-LYLE
JJ.S.C.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF MILLS-ODOI J.S.C.<o:p></o:p>Mills-Odoi
J.S.C. delivered the judgment of the court. The appellant was charged with the
murder of one Salifu Dagarti and was convicted of this crime on 7 April 1964,
at the Criminal Session of the High Court, Accra, at a trial before Siriboe J.
(as he then was) upon the verdict of a jury. He appealed to this court and it
is not without significance that his notice of appeal raised the questions with
which this court has been concerned, but which were merely a repetition, with
some elaboration, of the defence which he raised at the trial.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The case
for the prosecution was put forward primarily by four eye-witnesses, namely,
Andrews Kwaku Botwey (fifth prosecution witness), Abdulai Sissala (hereinafter
referred to as Abdulai), Emmanuel Narter Dosoo (eighth prosecution witness) and
Dickson Yaw Fofie (eleventh prosecution witness) and was as follows: On 2
January 1964, Abdulai was in charge of four police constables, including the
appellant, who were scheduled for duty at Flagstaff House from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The eleventh prosecution witness was one of the other three police constables.
Abdulai and his gang of four constables were supplied with .303 rifle
ammunition and each carried on him, while on duty, a .303 rifle. The appellant
had five rounds, and his rifle bore registration number 2310 on the butt.
Abdulai and the eleventh prosecution witness had ten each, while the other two
constables had five each, making a total of 35 rounds.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>On the
early morning of the fateful day, Abdulai and his companions reported for duty
at Flagstaff House. The appellant was one of them. Shortly afterwards, the
President of the Republic of Ghana (hereinafter shortly referred to as the
“President”) also arrived at Flagstaff House and went to his office. About 1
p.m. the same day the President came out of the office with the deceased, who
was at the time the head of the security officers, and both started walking
towards the former’s car which was parked in front of the residency. Suddenly,
there was the report of a gun. No one then knew who fired it. The President and
the deceased turned round to find out what had happened and as they did not see
the one who had fired the gun they turned again and continued walking to the
car.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Abdulai
who also heard the report of the gun rushed to the direction of the President’s
office and saw the President and the deceased walking together towards the
residency. He also saw the appellant carrying his rifle in a “port arm”
position and aiming it at the President and the deceased. He fired it; but no
one was injured. The deceased then turned round and saw the appellant pointing
his rifle at their direction. He then raised both hands slightly above his
shoulder, walked slowly towards the appellant and took cover behind a tree. A
few seconds later, the deceased moved and hid behind another tree and, as he
bent down and was almost ready to advance forward towards the appellant,
presumably to arrest him, the latter fired his rifle at him on the left side of
the head and he fell to the ground and died almost immediately. Aroused by the
first and second shots, the fifth prosecution witness peeped through the bars
of a gate which opens into the yard of the residency and saw the appellant fire
the fatal shot at the deceased. The eighth and eleventh prosecution witnesses
were also eye-witnesses to the shooting by the appellant which killed the
deceased. The appellant was arrested shortly afterwards.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
injury caused to the deceased was the deadly and mortal wound which the
pathologist (the sixth prosecution witness) who performed a post-mortem
examination described in the course of his evidence at the trial as follows:<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">“. . .
there was an extreme injury to the left side of the head. All the bones of this
side of the skull were broken into fragments about 1” or 2” across; and some
pieces were missing. The scalp was torn from just above the left eye-brow to
the back of the head. The resulting laceration or tear was ragged. The brain on
the left sid</main>