OKINE vs. THE REPUBLIC [1977]DLCA1384

Date	1977-05-10
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1977]DLCA1384

APALOO JA

ARCHER JA

FRANCOIS J.A.

P. A. ADJETEY FOR THE APPELLANT.

D. K. AFREH CHIEF STATE ATTORNEY FOR THE RESPONDENT.

[1977]DLCA1384
																																						<div class="restriction-wrapper">
														<div class="container-lg">
															<div class="row">
																<div class="col-md-12 restricted-content">
																	<div class="restricted-content-img-wrapper">
																		<div class="lock-icon bounce-7">
																			<img class=""
																				src="https://www.dennislawgh.com/dl-assets/dl-images/lock-content.png"
																				alt="Subscription based content">
																		</div>
																	</div>
																	 
																		<a href="https://www.dennislawgh.com/login"
																		class="btn btn-primary btn-lg"
																		style="font-family: 'open sans'; text-transform: capitalize; border-radius: 8px"> 
																		Login to Read Full Case </a>
																	 
																	
																</div>
															</div>
														</div>
													</div>
													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >OKINE <o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;THE REPUBLIC <o:p></o:p>[COURT OF APPEAL, ACCRA]<o:p></o:p>[1977]1 GLR 48<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:
10 MAY 1976<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>

D. K. AFREH, CHIEF 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">

APALOO, ARCHER AND FRANCOIS JJ.A.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF ARCHER J.A.<o:p></o:p>Archer
J.A. delivered the judgment of the court. Throughout the ages the calm and
breezy dawn has gained notoriety as the most ideal time for launching
successful military invasions and in contemporary times for staging coups
d’etat. The dawn has always been used by many Ghanaians for out-dooring and
naming their newly born babies amid the fanfare provided by the crows of the
cock. Unfortunately, this same dawn has an unenviable reputation as the most
opportune time, when some men, bereft of their bearings, have aroused their
paramours from their peaceful slumber and have battered them to death. One such
tragedy is the prosecution’s story in this appeal.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>On 10
June 1973, at 4.30 in the morning on the Christian Sabbath when
non-hypocritical Christians were reminding themselves of the ten commandments,
the appellant, Emmanuel Joe Okine, affectionately called “Brother Joe” by those
close to him, knocked at the window of the bedroom of his wife, Georgina
Akrong, at Sabon Zongo, Accra. His wife inquired who it was and the appellant
answered, “Brother Joe.” In her bedroom were two other persons, a female adult
and Georgina Akrong’s young daughter, who heard the knock and the appellant’s
reply. There was another woman in the house who also heard the knock on the
window by the appellant. Georgina Akrong got out of bed and opened the door for
the appellant. As soon as the appellant got access to the room, he refused Georgina
the liberty of going out to urinate. He pushed her down and she fell on her
back. Thereupon, the appellant took a wooden bar used in barricading the door
and started hitting his fallen wife with it. The other two inmates rushed out
of the room to the compound of the house and shouted for help. The appellant
ran away from the room and immediately afterwards sought the assistance of one
of his tenants to take him to the nearest police station where the appellant
told the officer on duty that as a result of a quarrel, he had hit his wife
with a stick and that the wife was lying in the room and he did not know what
had happened.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
post-mortem examination of Georgina’s body revealed that there were fractures
on the skull and the left ear. The multiple fractures on the skull ran from the
occipital region, that is from the back of the head on both sides. The brain
and its cavities which normally contain clear fluids were filled with blood and
the brain matter itself was severely damaged. All other organs on examination
were normal. In the opinion of the doctor death was due to the head injuries
which could have been caused by the wooden bar allegedly used by the appellant.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>In his
statement to the police on the day of the incident, the appellant gave his version
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">“I went
to take my wife out for a walk. I knocked at the window several times but there
was no response. Just as I was about to leave, the light was put on. Then, the
door opened and my wife came out, she stood at the door preventing me to enter
the room. I became suspicious so I pushed her in. There I saw a man standing in
the room with his head covered with a cloth belonging to my wife. As soon as I
drew near to recognise him, he hit me with a hard blow and I fell. I quickly
got up as he was about to run away and I also hit him with a blow and he too
fell; he then grabbed a piece of wood with which my wife used to close the
door. Just about that time, he put out the light as I was about to pounce on
him my wife held me tightly in her arms and we both fell. Then there was a
heavy blow where we fell. It hit my wife and she exclaimed ‘Alex you have
wounded me.’ This was quickly followed with another blow which hit the ground.
Realising danger, as the man was wild, I ran away and reported the matter to
one of my tenants and asked him to go with me to the scene. He suggested that
we should go to the police station first. I did not kill Georgina.”<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
appellant in his defence elected to make an unsworn statement from the dock. He
repeated almost exactly his statement to the police. After the summing-up, the
jury found him guilty of murder.<o:p></o:p>