PRACTICE NOTE: STATE v. AHOLO

In State v. Mawuku Aholo, the Supreme Court issued a joint judgment, delivered by van Lare, J.S.C., affirming the sufficiency of confession evidence in criminal convictions. The court held that a conviction may rest solely upon a prisoner’s confession when the trial judge has carefully scrutinized the circumstances surrounding the confession and is satisfied of its genuineness. Emphasizing that, in this case, the trial judge undertook such careful inquiry, the court concluded that no further corroboration was necessary. The judgment anchored its reasoning in established authorities, expressly citing R. v. Omokaro (1941) 7 W.A.C.A. 146, which itself cites R. v. Walter Sykes (1913) 8 Cr. App. R. 233, thereby recognizing a longstanding common law approach. The opinion by van Lare, joined by Sarkodee-Adoo and Crabbe, JJ.S.C., underscores the primacy of genuine confession evidence when properly vetted at trial.