TSINOWOPE vs. THE REPUBLIC [1986]DLCA688

Date	1986-04-13
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1986]DLCA688

OSEI-HWERE JA

AMPIAH JA

LAMPTEY J.A.

S. A. X. TSEGAH (WITH HIM O. ANSAH) FOR THE APPELLANT.

MRS. ANSON CHIEF STATE ATTORNEY FOR THE REPUBLIC.

[1986]DLCA688
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >TSINOWOPE <o:p></o:p>vs. <o:p></o:p>THE REPUBLIC<o:p></o:p>[COURT OF APPEAL, ACCRA.] <o:p></o:p>[1980] GLR 114<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:
13
APRIL 1989<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">

S. A. X. TSEGAH (WITH HIM O. ANSAH) FOR THE
APPELLANT.<o:p></o:p>

MRS. ANSON, CHIEF 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">

OSEI-HWERE, AMPIAH AND LAMPTEY JJ.A.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGEMENT OF OSEI-HWERE J.A.<o:p></o:p>The
appellant was indicted and arraigned before the criminal assizes held in the
High Court, Accra for the murder of one Amadu Tunde. The incriminating facts,
at their best, were supplied by the appellant himself who testified to the
effect that he was bent upon recovering from the deceased Tunde money which
Tunde had taken from the appellant’s girl friend. As the appellant was walking
with Tunde towards his house for the money he stopped at a spot and refused to
go further. The appellant held his shirt and tried to drag him along and in the
process Tunde slapped him. He retaliated with a single slap which felled him in
a supine position.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>At this
stage one Mohammed Issaka who had been attracted to the scene by the
quarrelling he heard from his house led Tunde away. According to the evidence
of the first, second and fifth prosecution witnesses (who were put forward as
eyewitnesses) this incident took place in the night of 1 July 1984, sometime
before 8 p.m. These witnesses were, in fact, certain that that day was the
Republic Day which fell on a Sunday. Alhaji Zabrama, the third prosecution
witness, is the father of Tunde. He testified that he had information that same
night that his son had been beaten by some soldiers and he went to his house to
verify. He entered Tunde’s room and found him lying on the ground in a coma. He
reported to the police the same night and when the police came the following
morning he was dead.<o:p></o:p>The fifth
prosecution witness gave evidence that shortly before the appellant came and
confronted Tunde, some three girls had quarrelled and fought with him that same
evening. Tunde did not seem to possess a particularly commendable character for
it was said of him by the first prosecution witness that he drank heavily and
he was also addicted to narcotic drugs (which she termed “corner-comer”). The
autopsy on Tunde revealed “massive subdural haemorrhages, over both parietal
lobes” and the cause of death was expressed to be due to “acute bilateral
massive subdural haemorrhages, an unnatural cause.”<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Doctor
Yao Tettey (who performed the autopsy) explained at the trial in simple terms
that he found collection of blood on both sides of the brain which caused the
death. He said that the particular location of the blood could be caused by
injury such as a blow on the head, a fall or if one is hit on the head with a
club or a hard object. He further explained that the accumulation of blood in
the brain caused by any such head injury may materialise instantly or it may
take months to collect. He admitted that where even the blood collects
instantly it may take time for the victim to feel the effect of the injury.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Having
regard to the evidence proffered by the prosecution, counsel for the appellant
made a submission of no case on his behalf. In overruling the submission the
trial judge said, inter alia:<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">“The
evidence on record is that the deceased died of subdural haemorrhage which
according to the seventh prosecution witness, could have been caused by a blow
or his fall. There is evidence on record that the deceased was involved in a
fight with three or four women and also that the deceased received a slap which
the accused person himself admitted in a statement to the police and also that
the slap was followed by a fall to the ground. The deceased could have died by
the fall, the slap or the fight with the women. The decision as to whether or
not the deceased died of the fall, a slap or the fight with the women is one of
fact not law which should be left for the jury to make. For these reasons, and
others to be fully embodied in the final summing-up, the submission of no case
in respect of the first accused is overruled.”<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>