[2020]DLCA9262 Login to Read Full Case <span style="font-size: 18px !important;"><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:115%; tab-stops:104.75pt"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif;color:#00B0F0;mso-ansi-language:EN-US">ERIC YAW ASANTE<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:115%; tab-stops:104.75pt"><i><span style="font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">(APPELLANT)<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:115%"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; color:#00B0F0;mso-ansi-language:EN-US">vs.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:115%"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; color:#00B0F0;mso-ansi-language:EN-US">THE REPUBLIC<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:115%"><i><span style="font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">(RESPONDENT)<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:115%"><span style="font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">[COURT OF APPEAL, ACCRA]</span><span style="font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:115%"><span style="font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"><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="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:115%; border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0cm; mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm"><span style="font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US">SUIT NO H2/8/2019 DATE: 30<sup>TH </sup>APRIL, 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif;mso-ansi-language:EN-US">CORAM:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US">PAUL K. GYEASAYOR J. A. (PRESIDING), AMMA A. GAIZIE J.A. AND ERIC K. BAFFOUR J.A<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border-top:solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;border-right:none; padding:1.0pt 0cm 1.0pt 0cm"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:115%; border:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:1.0pt 0cm 1.0pt 0cm"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif;mso-ansi-language:EN-US">JUDGMENT<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> </div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:115%"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US">Kyei Baffour J.A:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US">Underlying this appeal is a throw down of the gauntlet to the court by the Appellant for us to have a second look at the summing up and indeed the entirety of the evidence based on which the jurors returned a verdict of guilty of murder and to apprise ourselves as to whether there was a misdirection or non-direction in any form by which same has occasioned a substantial miscarriage of justice to the Appellant. The Appellant was tried on indictment for the charge of murder under section 46 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960, Act 29. The jurors returned a verdict of guilty of murder and was accordingly convicted and sentenced to death by the court below. The facts which are not in dispute are that the Appellant who was estranged from his wife, Rosemond Asante had moved out of his matrimonial home at Oyarifa, returned to the house on the 27<sup>th</sup> of January, 2013 in the company of a friend, Emmanuel Adjeipong Danso, who testified as DW1. The Appellant parked his car outside the house and entered the house whilst DW1 did not step out but waited for him.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US">At the time the Appellant entered his house he found the deceased, Stephen Yaw Acheampong, and two of the friends of the deceased, Joseph Ofori, Pw1 and Nicholas Arthur, Pw2 who were preparing <i>fufu </i>after having been granted permission by the wife of the Appellant, Rosemond Asante, to take the keys of the house from Deborah Duodu, Pw3. Upon seeing them in the house, Appellant is said to have first gone to feed his dogs and came back to question them as to the reason for their presence in the house. After hearing their explanation that they were there because his wife had permitted them, he ordered them to leave the house. The deceased is said to have locked the doors but the Appellant demanded the keys to the house which the deceased refused to deliver to the Appellant by insisting that the keys would be handed over to Pw3. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US">This generated a struggle between the Appellant and the deceased. To the prosecution, Appellant ran to his vehicle outside and took an article under a seat of the vehicle and came back to the house to further demand the keys. As the deceased proved unyielding, Appellant fired a gun at the deceased leading to his death. Appellant’s version was to the effect that the gun was in his pocket or at some point tucked to him and the deceased attempted to retrieve it from him. That the deceased accidentally pressed the trigger leading to his death as it had already been cocked whereupon Appellant and DW1 drove to report the incident to the Police.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US">Prosecution called five witnesses after which the trial Judge found that a prima facie case had been made out and invited the accused to open his defence. The accused testified and called his friend, Emmanuel Danso as DW1. With the conviction and sentence of death imposed on the Appellant by the court on the 31<sup>st</sup> of August, 2014 and being aggrieved by such conviction has appealed to this court, having been granted leave for extension of time to file Notice of Appeal. Three grounds stated in the Appellant’s Notice of Appeal were:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><ol style="margin-top:0cm" start="1" type="a"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US">That the conviction and sentence of the Appellant is wrong in law having regard to the totality of the evidence on record.<o:p></o:p></span></li> </ol><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt;text-align:justify;line-height: 115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><ol style="margin-top:0cm" start="2" type="a"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US">That the failure of the trial Judge to appreciate that that Appellant (sic) defence was reasonably probable amounted to miscarriage of justice.<o:p></o:p></span></li> </ol><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><ol style="margin-top:0cm" start="3" type="a"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US">That the additional grounds of appeal shall be filed upon receipt of the record.<o:p></o:p></span></li> </ol><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US">I now intend to take, <i>ad seriatim</i>, the grounds of appeal canvassed by the Appellant. The ground (a) that the conviction and sentence of the Appellant was wrong in law having regard to the totality of the evidence on record, is in effect an invitation to the court to review the evidence on record as in the view of the Appellant the verdict of the jurors cannot be supported having regard to the evidence on record. Indeed by section 31 of the Courts Act, 1993, Act 459, one of the grounds upon which a </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif">verdict or conviction or acquittal ought to be set aside