KWABENA APPIAH v. THE REPUBLIC
2021
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
- I. O. TANKO AMADU JSC ………….. PRESIDING
- HENRY A. KWOFIE JA
- ANTHONY OPPONG JA
Areas of Law
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Constitutional Law
2021
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
Justice Anthony Oppong JA authored a consolidated Court of Appeal decision addressing two related criminal appeals from Kumasi. In case H2/03/2020, the appellant, who had robbed a taxi driver after hiring him to Garden City University, pleaded “guilty with explanation,” but the High Court failed to record the explanation and convicted him, imposing concurrent 25-year sentences. Oppong JA underscored Act 30’s strict procedural regime and, invoking section 199(4) and the Dorvlo guidance, held that the trial judge’s failure to record the explanation constituted a miscarriage of justice that rendered the conviction unreasonable. Applying Kwaku v. Republic, the court declined to order a retrial given the appellant’s nearly 12 years’ incarceration. In case H2/02/2020, the trial record was missing, with the registrar reporting the cassette could not be traced; relying on John Bonuah and Article 19(1), the court found a fair appeal requires full records and, reconstruction being impossible, allowed the appeal and discharged the appellant unconditionally. Justices I.O. Tanko Amadu JSC and Henry A. Kwofie JA concurred.
ANTHONY OPPONG JA:
In this consolidated appeal, the pertinent question to answer regarding case no. H2/03/2020 is whether a conviction of an accused on his own plea of guilty can be sustained by the appeal court where the accused added words to his plea but those words are not recorded by the trial court.
Before the view of this court is expressed on this main pertinent issue for determination, it will be quite apposite to state the facts of this case.
By the facts largely given by the prosecution, the appellant was resident in Duase, a suburb in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. The complainant was in charge of taxi cab with registration number AS 7545 Z and he was hired by appellant to take him from Kejetia to Garden City University, Duase New Site, Kumasi. This was on or about 25th March 2009.
Whilst on the way to the Garden City University, the appellant attacked the complainant with gun and knife. He took him to a nearby bush by force, tied him to a tree with a nylon rope and drove the car away. The appellant was later identified and arrested and arraigned before the court with other accomplices involved in the commission of the crime.
Actually, it was on the 20th May 2009 that the appellant together with two others were arraigned before the High Court, Kumasi to answer the criminal charges of conspiracy to commit crime, namely robbery and robbery contrary to section 23(1) and 149 of Act 29 and 149 of Act 29 respectively. The appellant was the first accused. He pleaded guilty with explanation to his charges. It is significant to observe that whatever was said by way of the explanation was not recorded, contrary to practice and the criminal procedure code.
Rather, the Learned High Court Judge stated: “The explanation of A1 is not a defence to the charges against him. He now admits that he committed the offence. I therefore reject his explanation and convict him on his own plea of guilty”.
Consequently, A1 was convicted on his own plea and sentenced to 25 years on each count to run concurrently.
Ten years later, that is in 2019, the High Court granted the appellant leave to appeal. Pursuant to the leave, the appellant filed the instant petition of appeal and his grounds are:
1. That the conviction was unreasonable
2. That the trial judge failed to advert his mind to the mandatory provisions of section 199 of the Criminal And Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 30) before convicting the appellant, having regard to the nature of the charge and the fact