SGT. JOHN AGYAPONG v. REPUBLIC
2015
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
- MARIAMA OWUSU (MISS), J.A. (PRESIDING)
- F.G. KORBIEH, J.A.
- SENYO DZAMEFE, J.A
Areas of Law
- Criminal Law and Procedure
2015
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The appellant and others were accused of conspiracy and robbery in connection with an incident involving a gold purchase. The appellant's conviction for robbery was overturned on appeal, but his conviction for conspiracy was upheld, leading to further appeal. The Court of Appeal found that the earlier courts misapplied the law, failing to prove a prior agreement to act together as required under the new law on conspiracy. Moreover, the appellant was found to have been following orders from a superior officer without evidence proving these were unlawful instructions. It was emphasized that doubt should be in favor of the accused, leading to the appellant’s acquittal and discharge from the charge of conspiracy.
F.G. KORBIEH, J.A.
A summary of the facts of the case leading to this appeal is as follows: the appellant herein and eleven others were arraigned before the Circuit Court in Accra and charged with two offences: 1. Conspiracy to commit a crime; to wit robbery and 2. Robbery. They all pleaded not guilty to both charges and were therefore tried summarily. The appellant was convicted of both conspiracy and robbery. On appeal to the High Court, his conviction on robbery was set aside but that on conspiracy maintained. His sentence of twenty years was also maintained. He has therefore appealed against the upholding of his conviction on the conspiracy charge and the sentence imposed on him. It is useful, at this juncture, to give the brief facts as given to the trial court by the prosecution. They are as follows: one Kweku Duah (the complainant and P.W.1 at the trial court) arrived in Accra from Switzerland on the 1st February, 2008 and informed his friend (the 8th accused person during the trial) that he had come to buy gold. The complainant later checked into the Relax Court Hotel at Dzorwulu in Accra. The day after the arrival of the complainant, some of the accused persons and another (now at large) including the 8th accused, went to the hotel room of the complainant ostensibly to transact the gold-buying business with him. The 8th accused however locked the door of the complainant’s hotel room from the outside. One of the accused subsequently pulled a pistol on the complainant but the complainant knocked the pistol down and fled his room through the bedroom window. Once outside, the complainant met some of the other accused persons who assaulted him and removed monies and other items from his pockets. Other accused persons looted and ransacked his hotel room. He was then bundled into Mercedes Benz saloon car and driven to the Tesano Police Depot to the 1st accused, DSP Kwapong, who interrogated him for some time and then demanded US$30,000.00 from him. The complainant asked DSP Kwapong to take him to Tema to see his friend (the 8th accused) as all his money had been taken away. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th accused persons took the complainant to Tema. The car in which they went was driven by the 3rd accused. After some time in Tema, the 8th accused person drove the complainant back to the Relax Court Hotel. The next day the complainant made a report to the police and the accused persons were arrested. Investigations indicated that the one group of policemen wh