TETTEH SAMADZIE & ORS v. THE REPUBLIC
2015
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
- M. OWUSU (MISS), J.A. (PRESIDING)
- F.G. KORBIEH, J.A.
- S. DZAMEFE, J.A
Areas of Law
- Criminal Law
- Evidence Law
- Procedural Law
2015
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The appellants, charged with robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery, were convicted based on eyewitness testimony and evidence presented by the prosecution. Their appeals were dismissed as the court found the evidence sufficient to support the convictions and the sentences appropriate given the circumstances.
F.G. KORBIEH, J.A.
The 1st appellant herein was at all material times a police officer. The 2nd was a mason and the 3rd welder. They and one other person were arraigned before the High Court in Accra and charged with the offence of conspiracy to commit crime, to wit robbery, contrary to sections 23(1) and 149 of Act 29 as amended by Act 646. The 1st and 3rd appellants, together with the other person were also charged with the offence of robbery, contrary to section 149 of Act 29 as amended by Act 646. Again all the four people were charged with the offence of robbery, contrary to section 149 of Act 29 as amended by Act 646. They all pleaded not guilty to all the charges. A summary of the facts given to the trial court by the prosecution is as follows: on the 6/3/2009, at about 2:30 am the 1st and the 4th appellants and one other person (now at large) drove into the house of the 1st complainant (Justice Acquah) and broke into his room with cement blocks. They ordered the said complainant to surrender his money at gun point. When the 1st complainant refused to do so, the 3rd appellant hit him with a metal bar. Their accomplices also subjected the complainant’s wife to a lot of questioning but she managed to escape. They searched the room and took GHC500.00, a DVD player and two mobile phones and fled the scene but one was apprehended later on when he was seen running away with a cutlass. The same day at about 3:30 am the 2nd and 3rd appellants broke into the house of a second complainant (Evans Boakye) whom they shot at but he also managed to escape. His wife was however ordered to surrender her phones which she did. The 2nd appellant was standing guard at the door. The accused persons searched the room and took away three mobile phones and GHC50.00 in cash. The residents in the area heard about the robberies and therefore mounted a barrier on the road and in the process arrested appellants who were taken to the police station at Pokuase where they were subsequently identified by the victims of the robberies.
At the summary trial of the appellants and the other person the prosecution called a number of witnesses. The accused persons all testified for themselves and also called witnesses. In a rather terse judgment, the trial court found the three appellants guilty of the offences they were charged with and sentenced each of them to fifteen years IHL. The 3rd accused person was however acquitted and discharged. The 1st appellant appealed against his convict