KUMA vs. THE REPUBLIC [1967]DLCA1512

Date	1967-12-12
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1967]DLCA1512

OLLENNU JA

APALOO JA

LASSEY J.A.

AHINKORAH FOR THE APPELLANT.

BOISON CHIEF STATE ATTORNEY FOR THE RESPONDENT.

[1967]DLCA1512
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >KUMA <o:p></o:p>vs. <o:p></o:p>THE REPUBLIC <o:p></o:p>[COURT OF APPEAL]<o:p></o:p>[1967] GLR 732<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:
12 DECEMBER
1967.<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">

AHINKORAH FOR THE APPELLANT.<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">

OLLENNU, APALOO AND LASSEY JJ.A.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF OLLENNU J.A.<o:p></o:p>Ollennu
J.A. delivered the judgment of the court. The appellant was convicted by the
High Court, Sunyani, of the offence of murder. Against that conviction he
appealed to this court on a number of grounds, two only of which were argued;
these are:<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">“(1) The
presiding judge misdirected the jury by failing to direct that they were
entitled to find the appellant guilty of manslaughter if they were of the
opinion that he was so intoxicated as not to have the necessary intent as to
make him guilty of murder or murder but insane. <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">(2) The
summing-up notes are not detailed enough and as such it has made it difficult
to determine whether justice was not only done but was manifestly seen to be
done.”<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The facts
relied upon by the prosecution are briefly as follows: The appellant, his wife,
the first prosecution witness and his son, the eighth prosecution witness lived
in a village called Dandwa, near Nkoranza. On the day of the incident his wife,
the first prosecution witness, left the village for Akropong a nearby village
of members of her family to attend the celebration of funeral rites of her
sister who had died a few days before. The appellant had, on the previous day,
indicated his disapproval of his wife going, and so did not respond when the
wife bade him good-bye when she was leaving in the morning. At about mid-day
when his son, the eighth prosecution witness, returned from school he met the
appellant sharpening his cutlass. In reply to the boy the appellant said he was
sharpening the cutlass for use on his onion farm. He did not however go to the
farm that afternoon. The eighth prosecution witness went back to school and
when he returned home at about 5.30 p.m. the appellant caused him to buy 1s.
6d. worth of akpeteshie on two separate occasions; the appellant consumed the whole
of the first lot; he also drank a portion of the second lot, and went out with
what was left.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>In the
evening of that day, at about 7 p.m. the appellant travelled to the wife’s
village; as he entered he walked straight to the wife and began to cut her up
with a cutlass; the wife raised an alarm. The second prosecution witness, a
sister of the appellant’s wife, seeing this also raised alarm and started
running away; the appellant rushed on her too and gave her some cuts with the
cutlass. The deceased, a brother of the appellant’s wife, walked up to the
appellant and said to him, “Brother-in-law, why?” Thereupon the appellant
turned upon him, inflicting very severe wounds upon him and killed him at the
spot.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>A number
of people came out into the streets of the village in consequence of the alarm.
The appellant, still holding the cutlass, rushed towards one of them, the sixth
prosecution witness, whereupon the sixth prosecution witness who had a gun
fired at the appellant’s legs; the appellant fell down, but got up quickly and
ran away into the bush; later he reported himself to the police at Nkoranza,
that was at about 12.35 a.m., with slight gun-shot wounds on his left leg, and
he was taken to hospital. The appellant told the police that he had been shot by
the sixth prosecution witness for no just cause. When he was eventually charged
with the offence and cautioned, he said he would make his statement in court.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
defence was a complete denial of the offence. The appellant gave evidence that
on the day in question he expected his wife to return home, and as she was not
coming up to about 7 p.m., he took a walk to her village which was not too far
away hoping that he would meet her on the way and return with her, but he did
not meet her; that as he got to the village and was going towards the wife’s
house, he met the sixth prosecution witness who on seeing him shouted, “This is
one of them, this is one of them,” and then fired a gun at him.<o:p></o:p>