DANIEL KUATUSAH v. REPUBLIC

On 27 February 2020, a form one pupil of Akatsi Roman Catholic Basic School alleged that her teacher lured her to the room of a woman later identified as his girlfriend and forcibly had sexual intercourse with her, leaving genital injuries and blood-stained underwear. She reported to her grandmother and police, who retrieved torn pants, arranged a medical examination at Hoggar Clinic, and arrested the teacher. At the Sogakope Circuit Court, after the prosecution called four witnessesthe victim, her grandmother, the girlfriend, and the investigatorthe defense submitted no case to answer. The trial judge overruled, finding a prima facie case and called the accused to open his defense. On appeal, the High Court, per Justice Doreen G. BoakyeAgyei, treated the appeal as a rehearing and applied Ghanaian precedents on the no case threshold. The Court held the medical reports impression of genital lacerations due to sexual assault and the victims testimony sufficed for a prima facie case, rejected challenges premised on call records and minor inconsistencies, reaffirmed that corroboration is not required by law, dismissed the appeal, and ordered the accused to return to the trial court to open his defense.