JUDGMENT OF AZU CRABBE J. A.
Azu Crabbe J.A. delivered the judgment of the court. The appellant was convicted in the High Court, Ho, on 18 October 1965, before Sowah J. sitting with a jury, for the murder of one Emmanuel Kodjoe Agbobli at Ativi Cottage in the Volta Region on 31 October 1963. That the deceased died from gun shot wounds was not disputed, and according to the doctor who performed the post-mortem examination, the shots must have been fired from the right side of the deceased and were at close range. The events out of which the charge arose relate to land litigation between the Chief of Dapaa, Nana Kwaku Gyampoh III and the appellant, the Omanhene of Dodo Amanfro. On 17 July 1962, Nana Gyampoh III obtained judgment in a case, and the appellant, having appealed from that judgment to the Supreme Court, applied to that court on 3 March 1963, for an interim injunction, and for the appointment of a receiver and manager. The appellant's application was granted, and Mr. E. S. Jeffrey, then the High Court registrar at Ho, was appointed receiver and manager of the proceeds accruing from the disputed area. Mr. Jeffrey in turn appointed as his agent one Kwadade the first prosecution witness, and instructed both contending parties to [p.312] appoint three persons each to assist his agent in the performance of his duties. The appellant at first expressed dissatisfaction with the appointment of Kwadade, but later he made his nominations. Nana Gyampoh III also nominated three persons, including the deceased. On 8 October 1963, Kwadade and the deceased were summoned to the house of the appellant, and after the appellant had remonstrated with Kwadade for operating outside the area prescribed in the order of the Supreme Court, the appellant further told him in a fit of anger that if he did not restrict himself to the court's order he would be opposed by his (appellant's) group. The Mankrado of the appellant was alleged to have threatened to shoot Kwadade and Nana Gyampoh's men down "like monkeys." On 31 October 1963, Kwadade, accompanied by the deceased, one Achiampong the second prosecution witness and also Onima the eleventh prosecution witness as well as other prosecution witnesses, went to Ativi Cottage where they met the appellant and other persons. Kwadade informed the people in the cottage that they had come there in pursuance of the court's order. The appellant told Kwadade and his men that the area in which they were was not included in the order of
