KONTOR vs. THE REPUBLIC [1987]DLCA776

Date	1987-06-30
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1987]DLCA776

ABBAN JA

WUAKU JA

AMUA-SEKYI J.A.

J. O. AMUI FOR THE APPELLANT.

SAM BADDOO CHIEF STATE ATTORNEY (WITH HIM MRS. ANSON CHIEF STATE ATTORNEY) FOR THE REPUBLIC

[1987]DLCA776
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >KONTOR <o:p></o:p>vs. <o:p></o:p>THE REPUBLIC <o:p></o:p>[COURT OF APPEAL, ACCRA.]<o:p></o:p>[1987-88] 1 GLR 324<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
30 JUNE 1987<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">

J. O. AMUI FOR THE APPELLANT. <o:p></o:p>

SAM BADDOO, CHIEF STATE ATTORNEY (WITH HIM 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">

ABBAN, WUAKU AND AMUA-SEKYI JJ.A.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF ABBAN J.A.<o:p></o:p>The
appellant was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by the High Court,
Sekondi on 8 July 1985.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The brief
facts of the case were that the deceased and the appellant were cousins living
in the same house. There had been a quarrel between them. The basis of the
quarrel was that the appellant had ejected certain tenants from a house which
ejectment the deceased considered not justified.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>However,
the immediate cause of the fight was that the appellant had been, so to speak,
talking about the deceased in his (deceased’s) absence. This, the deceased
never approved of and a quarrel ensued between them. The quarrel then turned
into a fight.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>It was
clear from the evidence that during the fight, the appellant stabbed the
deceased and it was from the injury received from this one stab that, according
to the medical evidence, the deceased died.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
evidence of the vital witnesses for the prosecution—especially the second
prosecution witness—established without doubt that the appellant, when he
realised that the deceased had sustained grievous injury, uttered words of
remorse. We refer to the evidence of the second prosecution witness where he
said:<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">“A
quarrel again ensued between the accused and the deceased. I was at that time
in the kitchen trying to light a lantern. I then heard the deceased shout
‘Kwame, you have injured me’ . . . People came to the scene with lanterns
including the accused person who said ‘Kofi, you have made me do serious (or
grave) wrong.’”<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>That the
deceased was older and bigger than the appellant was established by the
evidence of Kwame Nsowah, the first prosecution witness. It seems there was no
intention on the part of the appellant to kill. A portion of the appellant’s
evidence showed that just before the fight, the appellant and the deceased had
sat together and eaten together; and that during the fight the deceased seemed
to have been more aggressive.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>We refer
to the evidence of the appellant when he said in chief: “That was at about 9.00
a.m. on 26 December 1983. When we were separated we stopped quarrelling. Siawa,
the second prosecution witness, prepared food and Kofi Japah and I ate . . .”
Then he went on:<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">“During
the quarrelling, Siawa, the second prosecution witness, stood between us but
Kofi Japah, the deceased, suddenly pushed Siawa aside and attacked me and we
continued to fight. We all fought until we fell into a pit nearby.”<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p><</main>