LAMPTEY ALIAS MOROCCO vs. THE REPUBLIC [1973]DLCA2294

Date	1973-11-15
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1973]DLCA2294

SOWAH JA

ARCHER JA

ANNAN J.A.

P. A. ADJETEY FOR THE APPELLANT.

ASAMOAH SENIOR STATE ATTORNEY FOR THE REPUBLIC.

[1973]DLCA2294
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" ><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:
115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;mso-fareast-font-family:Times;
mso-bidi-font-family:Times;color:#548DD4;mso-themecolor:text2;mso-themetint:
153">LAMPTEY ALIAS MOROCCO<o:p></o:p><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:
115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;mso-fareast-font-family:Times;
mso-bidi-font-family:Times;color:#548DD4;mso-themecolor:text2;mso-themetint:
153">&nbsp;vs. <o:p></o:p><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:
115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;mso-fareast-font-family:Times;
mso-bidi-font-family:Times;color:#548DD4;mso-themecolor:text2;mso-themetint:
153">THE REPUBLIC<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;[COURT OF APPEAL, ACCRA]<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[1974] 1 GLR 165<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:
15 NOVEMBER 1973.<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">

P. A.
ADJETEY FOR THE APPELLANT.<o:p></o:p>

ASAMOAH,
SENIOR STATE ATTORNEY, FOR THE REPUBLIC.<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">

SOWAH, ARCHER AND ANNAN JJ.A.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF ANNAN J.A.<o:p></o:p>Annan
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 reasonably safe to
say that the main evidence relied on by the prosecution as to the commission of
the offence of murder charged against the appellant, was the appellant’s own
account given on the day of the incident.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>In his
evidence Bukare Moshie, the second witness for the prosecution, spoke of a
fight between two people. Earlier he had heard shouts that some persons were
fighting. In his own words this was what he said: “I rushed towards the scene.
I saw a man on the ground and another man striking the one on the around with a
stick about 100-150 yards away in a park. The man ran away. I was 100 yards
away from them.” At the scene he saw Braimah Grumah lying down dead. He
described Grumah as a thin tall old man. This witness was unable to identify
either of the two combatants before one of them ran away and he could not say
who was on the ground at the relevant time or who was hitting the other. The
time was about 6.15 a.m.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
brother-in-law of the appellant, the first witness for the prosecution,
Emmanuel Lamptey, gave an account of a conversation he had with the appellant
in his own room at about the same time. According to this witness the appellant
ran into his house and into his room at about 6.15 a.m. He was holding a
cutlass and a club. The appellant told him that he had fought the watchman at
the school and that he was sure the watchman had died. The accused’s version of
the fight as told to this witness was that the watchman had hit him on the head
with a club and that they had fought fiercely. This witness spoke of an old
misunderstanding between the appellant and the deceased connected with the wife
of the appellant.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Later
that day the police visited the scene of the incident where they saw the body
of Braimah Grumah in front of a school block in a flower bed. They put the age
of the deceased at about 60 years and the doctor confirmed that the deceased
was between 60 and 70 years old. On the body were wounds on the neck and the
right hand, as well as a contusion on the left side of the forehead.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Later
that day the appellant reported at the police station. A club, a cutlass and a
sheath were later recovered by the police. The weapons were found in the room
of Emmanuel Lamptey, the first prosecution witness, and the sheath was found
hanging on the body of the deceased. When the appellant reported at the police
station, what was described as a “little abrasion” was seen on his right
finger. Two days later, upon examination by a doctor upon his complaint that he
had been hit by an object on the hea</main>