THE REPUBLIC vs. BUGADAM ACHIGATERA [2019]DLHC8245

Date	2019-07-31
Suit No.	D16/23/2017
Citation No.	[2019]DLHC8245

HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE JACOB B. BOON

EMMANUEL OTOO BOISON FOR THE REPUBLIC

ADAZABRA FOR THE ACCUSED

<p class="mb-5" id="contentDlCitation"  hidden>[2019]DLHC8245</p>
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" ><span style="font-size: 18px !important;"><p class="MsoNoSpacing" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:115%"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;
line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif;color:#00B0F0;mso-ansi-language:
EN-US">THE REPUBLIC<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:center"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif;
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;color:#00B0F0">vs.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" align="center" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:center;
line-height:115%"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif;
color:#00B0F0;mso-ansi-language:EN-US">BUGADAM ACHIGATERA<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:center"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;
font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri">[HIGH COURT</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif">,
BOLGATANGA]</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;
font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">

</div><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height:115%"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif;mso-ansi-language:EN-US">COUNSEL:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height:115%"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif;
mso-ansi-language:EN-US">EMMANUEL OTOO BOISON FOR THE REPUBLIC <o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height:115%;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:
solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif;
mso-ansi-language:EN-US">ADAZABRA FOR THE ACCUSED <o:p></o:p></span></p>

</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12.0pt;
line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;;
mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;">CORAM:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height:115%;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:
solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm"><span class="NoSpacingChar"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;
font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif">HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE JACOB B. BOON<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>

</div><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height:115%"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif;
mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-ansi-language:EN-US">Ladies and
Gentlemen of the jury, we have come to an important stage of the trial of the
accused person who is charged on one count with murder contrary to section 46
of the Criminal Offences Act of Ghana 1960, Act 29.&nbsp; It is now my duty to sum up the record of the
trial to pave the way for you to take a decision regarding the guilt or innocence
of the accused person, Bugadam Achigatera, who claims to be a farmer, and also assist
in loading the wares of women who seasonally travel from Ghana to Burkina Faso
to buy tomatoes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif;
mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-ansi-language:EN-US">It is important
to emphasise that during your deliberations, you are to restrict yourselves to
the record of the trial. You must not take any matter outside what transpired at
the trial into consideration. Also be informed that all matters of fact are
within your domain to consider, whilst you are bound by my directions on all questions
of law. If in the course of this direction, I express an opinion on a matter of
fact, you are not bound by my opinion. You are at liberty to ignore it and form
your own opinion on that matter. An example of a question of fact is the weight
to be attached to the evidence of witnesses.&nbsp;
Whether or not to believe the evidence of a witness is a matter of fact.
It is therefore part of your duty to determine if a witness testified
truthfully or not. Again, another important matter is that as accused is charged
with murder, your verdict must be unanimous. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif;
mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-ansi-language:EN-US">As I indicated,
the accused before you is charged on one count with murder. Murder is a serious
offence in the laws of Ghana, the punishment of which is death upon conviction.
The accused is alleged to have inflicted unlawful harm on his uncle called
Liraseh Nasara on the 12<sup>th</sup> day of November, 2016, leading to his death.&nbsp; The deceased, Liraseh Nasara, is the elder
brother of the father of the accused, Bachikatera Achari, who, you will recall,
was called by the prosecution as their third witness (PW3).&nbsp; The other facts as presented by the
prosecution were that on the day in question, the accused and the deceased, who
are related, and natives of Nyania near Paga, attended a funeral nearby. On
returning home separately, around five o’clock in the evening, they caught up
with each other on path close to the house of the deceased, and the accused
alleged the deceased hit him with a bicycle he, the deceased, was then riding. This
led to an argument between them when accused is alleged to have picked a stick
in an attempt to hit the deceased. Fearing for his life, the deceased abandoned
his bicycle and ran towards his house but the accused followed him to his house
still poised to assault him in the presence of deceased’s wife, Kuchuriba
Liraseh, who also gave evidence as the first prosecution witness (PW1).&nbsp; In the house of the deceased, prosecution
alleged that the accused got hold of the deceased, and for fear of the safety
of her husband, the wife rushed out to the next house to ask for help to rescue
her husband, but unfortunately, no man was present, apparently because all the
men were at the funeral.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif;
mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-ansi-language:EN-US">According to
the wife, when she returned to the house, she saw the deceased lying in a pool
of blood with a hammer they kept in the house and usually used in the process
of tethering their animals, lying by him.&nbsp;
Prosecution’s case is that when the wife ran out of the house in search
of others to rescue her husband from the wrath of the accused, her husband was
left with accused alone in the house. No one else was present. The evidence is
that the deceased lived with his wife alone, so at the time the accused chased
the deceased to the house, it was only the wife who was present. Prosecution
asserted that when the wife returned to the house without anybody to assist her
husband, she, on her own, could not do anything until the following day when
the father of the deceased already referred to, (PW3), and others came to the house
and rushed the deceased to the Navrongo War Memorial Hospital but he passed
away the next day, that is on 14<sup>th</sup> November, 2016, in the afternoon.
Accused was arrested after he turned himself up to the Paga police to avoid
being lynched by the community. He was later charged and brought before you
after investigations.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif;
mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-ansi-language:EN-US">It is the
prosecution who preferred the charge of murder against the accused person. The
law therefore is that the prosecution must lead credible evidence to prove the
charge beyond reasonable doubt, and not fanciful doubt. This principle of law
is very important in every criminal trial and must not escape you in your
deliberations. It is equally of some importance to let you know that there is
no burden on the accused to prove his innocence. It is the prosecution that
must prove the guilt of the accused person having laid the charge against him.
At the end of your deliberations, after you have considered all the evidence
led at this trial, including the defence put up by the accused, no doubt should
be left in your minds that it is the accused, and no one else, who caused the
death of the deceased through the infliction of unlawful harm and the harm was
intended to lead to the death of the deceased. If you are sufficiently
persuaded that the prosecution has discharged the burden of proving all the
elements of the offence of murder, then you must return a verdict of guilty of
murder.&nbsp; But if any doubt lingers in your
minds as to whether or not the death of the deceased was as a result of the
conduct of the accused, your verdict will be that of not guilty as the doubt
will inure to the advantage of the accused because that would have meant that
the prosecution failed to discharge the burden placed on them by law to prove
the charge against the accused beyond reasonable doubt.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif;
mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-ansi-language:EN-US">The elements o</main>