RICHARD BANOUSIN v. THE REPUBLIC
March 18, 2014
SUPREME COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- ANSAH JSC (PRESIDING)
- DOTSE JSC
- ANIN-YEBOAH JSC
- BAFFOE BONNIE JSC
- AKOTO BAMFO(MRS) JSC
Areas of Law
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Evidence Law
- Constitutional Law
March 18, 2014
SUPREME COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The Supreme Court of Ghana, per Dotse JSC and unanimously with Ansah JSC (Presiding), Anin-Yeboah JSC, Baffoe-Bonnie JSC, and Akoto-Bamfo JSC, allowed the appeal of teacher Richard Banousin, who had been convicted of attempted rape by the Court of Appeal after a High Court rape conviction. The Court held that rape remains an indictable first-degree felony; under Act 30 section 2(2)(a) it must be tried on indictment, and article 19(2)(a) does not eliminate indictment trials for first-degree felonies. Assessing the evidence, the Court found no proof of the least degree of penetration: PW3 Dr. Royale Gomez’s medical report showed an already-broken hymen, no sperm, and no signs of recent violence, and he could not confirm penetration. PW1’s account lacked detail, credibility was undermined, and a vital witness (Kashifa) was not called. The Court rejected the Court of Appeal’s reliance on section 153(1) to convict for attempted rape without evidentiary basis, emphasized the burden of proof and constitutional referral principles, set aside the conviction and sentence, and acquitted and discharged Banousin.
VICTOR DOTSE JSC:
On the 18th day of March 2015, this court by a unanimous decision allowed the appeal herein against the decision of the Court of Appeal dated 28/2/2013 and set aside the conviction and sentence imposed on the appellant by the said Court of Appeal judgment and accordingly acquitted and discharged him of his conviction for attempted rape and sentence of 7 years. We however reserved our reasons for the said decision which we indicated would be filed on or by the 2nd day of April 2015.
We now proceed to give our reasons for our said decision as follows:
We begin this opinion by an observation of the times and life of Sir Isaac Newton, that great 17th Century English Mathematician and Philosopher who has given the world some natural laws of physics which apply to human beings, just as they apply to the movement of bodies in the universe. And we are sure everyone isfamiliar with one of these laws, and that is, “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” This in real terms means that for every action one takes, there is an opposite reaction and a price to pay for it. This could be positive or negative.
How does the above statement by Sir Isaac Newton apply to the circumstances of this case? Well, if only the Accused/Appellant/Appellant, hereafter referred to as the Appellant had not requested the victim of the rape charge, RashidaKanton,PWI to follow him to his bungalow for her seized pullover among others that he had seized from the students, the chain of events, culminating in the conviction of the Appellant by the High Court, Wa, and the subsequent confirmation of same by the Court of Appeal, would not have resulted into the instant appeal by the appellant to seek a reversal of that conviction and sentence to 7 years I.H.L. Fact of the matter is that, the career of the appellant as a teacher has been brought to a pre-mature end by his lack of discretion.
FACTS OF THE CASE
The appellant was at all times material to the cause of events giving rise to his arraignment before the High Court, Wa, on one count of rape contrary to section 97 of the Criminal and other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) a teacher at the Kanton Senior High School at Tumu in the Upper West Region. In that capacity the appellant on the 28th day of July, 2009 requested the complainant and victim of the rape charge Rashida Kanton Ibrahim, a student of the same school to come to his apartment for some pullovers which the appellant claimed he had seized from t