BILLA MOSHIE vs. THE REPUBLIC [1977]DLCA1261

Date	1977-06-20
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1977]DLCA1261

ANIN JA

ANNAN JA

FRANCOIS J.A.

OFORI FOR THE APPELLANT.

KWAME AFREH CHIEF STATE ATTORNEY FOR THE REPUBLIC.

[1977]DLCA1261
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >BILLA MOSHIE <o:p></o:p>vs. <o:p></o:p>THE REPUBLIC <o:p></o:p>[COURT OF APPEAL, ACCRA]<o:p></o:p>[1977] 2 GLR 418<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:
20 JUNE 1977<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">

OFORI 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">

ANIN, ANNAN AND FRANCOIS JJ.A.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF ANIN J.A.<o:p></o:p>Anin J.A.
delivered the judgment of the court. The appellant was on 24 March 1977 found
guilty by the Sunyani High Court by the unanimous verdict of a seven-man jury
of the charge of murdering one Musah Moshie and was duly convicted and
sentenced to death. The deceased was a watchman employed by the Techiman
Distillers Co-operative Society to guard by day and night their precious
akpeteshie distilling installations and drums for storing finished akpeteshie;
and the appellant was his houseboy or possibly a co-watchman.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
prosecution rested their case on the evidence of two witnesses and on an
alleged confession statement of the appellant. Their first witness, Kwame
Ankama, a committee member of the Distillers Co-operative Society, recounted
how the appellant, “holding a lantern and carrying a bow and arrows,” knocked
at his door at about 9.30 p.m. on the day of the incident. On being let in, the
appellant announced to him that he had killed a thief at the distillery site
and he had therefore come to apprise him of that fact.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>“I asked
the accused, what did the thief take?” Ankama continued his evidence. To this
question, the appellant replied that he found the thief was taking away a
barrel; so he called upon the thief who was running away to stop. He failed to
stop; so he shot him with the arrow.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>On
hearing this weird story, Ankama asked to be shown where the alleged thief lay.
He was duly led to the distillery site; and there he saw the body of a man
lying prostrate. Flashing his torch light, he immediately recognised the body
to be that of Musah Moshie the watchman.<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">&nbsp;“On seeing the body, I exclaimed, ‘Billa, is
it not Musah Moshie?’” Ankama continued. “When I said that, Billa replied ‘Yes
I saw the man come to take a barrel I called upon him to halt. He did not; so I
killed him’.”<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>On the
condition of the body as he saw it by the torch light, Ankama disclosed that it<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">“lay
still without breathing. The body lay face upwards with the head a little way
inside a barrel lying on the ground . . . There was a pool of blood at the
place where Musah lay. I observed that the body had been dragged along the
ground to the place where it lay. I also observed that the body had fresh
cutlass wounds on the right jaw, severing the jaws, the lower part was hanging
loose. There were fresh cutlass stroke marks without cutting the flesh on the
chest and abdomen. The head had been battered with cement blocks. We had the
rest of some blocks used in building stacked there . . . There was sticking out
of the navel an arrow in a slanting position with the top reed under the chin.”<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Later in
his evidence, Ankama disclosed that even though he did not touch Musah’s body,
he concluded at the time from what he saw of Musah that he “was already dead.”<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>