CLIFFORD BRONI BEDIAKO vs. THE REPUBLIC [2010]DLCA3608

Date	2010-12-16
Suit No.	SUIT NO. H2/1/2010
Citation No.	[2010]DLCA3608

G M QUAYE JA [PRESIDING]

YAW APPAU JA

DENNIS D ADJEI JA

MR. STEPHEN AHOR WITH HIM MR. MICHEAL OTENG FOR APPELLANT

[2010]DLCA3608
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >CLIFFORD
BRONI BEDIAKO<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>THE REPUBLIC<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;[COURT OF APPEAL, ACCRA]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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SUIT
NO. H2/1/2010&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;DATE: 16TH
DECEMBER, 2010<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;
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MR. STEPHEN AHOR WITH HIM
MR. MICHEAL OTENG FOR 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;
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G
M QUAYE JA [PRESIDING] YAW APPAU JA AND DENNIS D ADJEI JA<o:p></o:p>

</div>&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; <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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JUDGMENT<o:p></o:p>

</div>DENNIS D ADJEI JA<o:p></o:p>The appellant stood trial
at the Greater Accra Regional Tribunal, Accra on a charge of possession of
narcotic drug without lawful authority contrary to Section 2 of the Narcotic
Drugs (Control, Enforcement and Sanction Law) PNDCL 236/1990.&nbsp; The Appellant pleaded not guilty to the
offence and trial started on 24th May 2006.&nbsp; In the course of the trial the Appellant
applied to change his plea and the plea was retaken but the explanation offered
suggested that he was not guilty and the trial Tribunal continued with the
hearing of the matter to its finality.&nbsp; The
plea which was retaken in the middle of the trial has been raised as an issue
by the Appellant and the legal issues involved would be addressed in due
course.<o:p></o:p>Briefly stated the case of
the prosecution was that the Appellant, a Ghanaian who was pursuing a Masters
programme in London Metropolitan University was arrested at the Kotoka International
Airport on 14th July 2005 when he was scheduled to travel to London on
board a KLM Flight.&nbsp; The Appellant was
suspected of possessing narcotic drug by the officer from the Narcotic Control
Unit who was on duty at the Kotoka International Airport.&nbsp; The Appellant was taken to the 37 Military Hospital
where an X-ray examination revealed that he had foreign material in his
stomach.&nbsp; The Appellant expelled 36
whitish pellets under the supervision of the Narcotics Control Unit
officials.&nbsp; The forensic examination by
the Ghana Standards Board revealed that the foreign substance which was hidden
in the Appellant’s stomach was cocaine with a percentage purity of 71.4% with
total gross weight of 320 grams.<o:p></o:p>The Appellant admitted
having swallowed the 36 pellets of foreign material into his stomach but said
that the substance was diamond and not cocaine.&nbsp;
The main issues for determination before the tribunal were two folds
namely:<o:p></o:p>i.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Whether or not the substance found in the
stomach of the Appellant which was expelled under the supervision of the
personnel of the Narcotics Control Board was either cocaine or diamond and <o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>ii.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Whether or not the Appellant knew that the
substance he swallowed was diamond and not cocaine.<o:p></o:p>The trial Tribunal
rejected the defence put up by the Appellant as an attempt to throw dust into
the eyes of the court.&nbsp; The Court
convicted and sentenced him to twelve years imprisonment in hard labour.&nbsp; On 14th March 2008 the Appellant initially
filed an appeal against sentence.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>He subsequently applied to
this Court to grant him leave to amend his Notice of Appeal to enable him
appeal against both conviction and sentence and the leave was granted on 10th
December 2008.&nbsp; On 19th
December 2008 the Appellant filed his petition of Appeal (Notice of Appeal) and
on the issue of conviction, he raised eight (8) grounds and on the sentencing
raised three (3) grounds.&nbsp; The frivolity
of some of the grounds of appeal would be addressed in the course of this
judgment.<o:p></o:p>The eight grounds of
appeal against the conviction are as follows:<o:p></o:p>1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;