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November 23, 2023
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
ANTHONY OPPONG JA:
In this case, the appellant is the 3 rd accused, Kofi Bruce aka Korkor. He was charged, tried by jury and convicted of murder. He is said to have pummeled furiously with his fists one Komlavi Mileba now deceased who had fallen down as a result of a blow delivered to the deceased by one of the other accused persons (A2) called Adewaley Hotor Sosu. According to the facts, the deceased was lying on the ground supine as a result of the blow he had suffered from A2 and it was while the deceased was lying on the ground motionless and perhaps dead that the appellant pummeled him furiously with further blows. It was as a result of this unfortunate ordeal meted out to Komlavi Mileba by A2 and the appellant that the former died.
Undoubtedly, there was an altercation between Nyemedzinyao Mileba (PW1), a brother of the deceased, and A2 over a drum that PW1 had sent home after bringing it to the funeral grounds of the deceased chief of their village. In the course of the altercation, the deceased felt obliged to intervene. That intervention provoked A2 who thought PW1 and the deceased were joining forces to beat him.
It is of utmost significance to observe that, according to A2 who felt threatened by PW1 and the deceased, he (A2) invoked the powers of his god by calling on the god to give him power to defend himself or to repel the ominous attack he perceived from the deceased and PW1. After calling his god and perhaps imbued with the required power, A2 delivered a blow to the deceased that sent the deceased down. The facts indicated further that while the deceased was lying supine on the ground as a result of that fateful blow delivered by A2, A3 inspired by A1 also pummeled furiously further blows on the deceased who never got up on his feet again but died.
The question that has agitated my mind a great deal, having regard to the circumstances under which Komlavi died, is whether the appellant in pummeling the deceased with blows in that fighting mood had the specific intent to kill the deceased. In other words, did the prosecution prove beyond reasonable doubt the mens rea or the specific intent to kill the deceased to warrant a conviction of murder? I do not think the appellant could be said to have had that intention or consciousness to kill under the circumstances of this case. This is where I part company with my revered sister Asare Botwe (Mrs), JA who thinks otherwise.
As long ago as 1862, Chief Baron Pollock in the case of Republic vs.
AI Generated Summary
This criminal appeal from the High Court, Ho’s 25 April 2016 judgment concerns Kofi Bruce (A3), a kente weaver from Klikor, convicted of murder with A2 after a funeral altercation over drums led to the deceased, Komlavi (Kwabla) Mileba, being felled and then repeatedly struck while supine. Exhibit H’s post mortem noted both a fractured skull and ruptured spleen culminating in hypovolemic shock, but the pathologist did not testify. Writing for the majority, Anthony Oppong JA found the prosecution had not proved specific intent to kill in the brawl’s context and identified misdirections: the trial judge told the jury a single blow could not cause the fatal injuries and failed to instruct on manslaughter while neglecting to highlight weaknesses in medical causation. Jerome Noble-Nkrumah JA concurred, emphasizing that the pathologist’s absence and unclear causation demanded a manslaughter direction. Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe (Mrs.) JA dissented, upholding murder while substituting life imprisonment under Act 1101. The majority allowed the appeal, set aside the murder conviction, and substituted manslaughter, imposing 20 years from the original conviction date.