TANOH ALIAS OBENG v. THE REPUBLIC

Taylor J. reviews the convictions of an appellant from the Circuit Court, Kumasi, for stealing N¢800 and causing unlawful damage to a police docket. The complainant banked at the Ghana Commercial Bank, Kejetia, and the appellant allegedly assisted in filling cheques; the complainant later discovered N¢800 had been cashed without his authorization. Prosecution evidence included a confession to a friend, a police statement admitting the offence, and partial restitution by the appellant’s family. On the damage count, the appellant and a police officer conspired to steal and burn the docket in the R.C.I.D. office; the officer was convicted. On appeal, Taylor J. rejected the ground that the trial judge inadequately considered the defence but focused on the circuit judge’s reliance on unsworn information that the appellant was serving a ten-year sentence for counterfeiting. Invoking common-law rules on propensity evidence and the fair hearing guarantee in article 20(1) of the 1969 Constitution, the court held that using prior-conviction information was unfairly prejudicial and unconstitutional in effect. Applying the Stirland standard, the error was not cured by Act 30’s proviso; the appeal was allowed, convictions quashed, and the appellant acquitted, albeit dishonourably discharged.