THE REPUBLIC v. DESMOND HAMILTON TAWIAH ALHASSAN

JUDGMENT

FACTS:

The accused person was charged and arraigned before this court on a charge

of defilement contrary to section 101(2) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960

(Act 29).

The brief facts presented by the prosecution are that the Complainant Esther

Chartey, is the mother of the alleged victim by name Princess Teikoko Dede

Agbo aged 8 years at the time of the alleged incident. The prosecution alleges

that the accused person aged 19 years at the time of the alleged incident, lives

in the same house with the victim and her mother at Kordiabe, a suburb of2

Dodowa. According to the prosecution, on 3rd July, 2020 at about 8:30am, the

accused person sent the victim on an errand and thereafter took her into his

room and forcibly had sexual intercourse with her. The victim’s aunt, one

Rebecca Mensah went in search of the victim and when she entered the

accused person’s room, she found the victim sitting beside the bed of the

accused person crying. She brought her out of the room and handed her over

to the complainant.

The prosecution further claims that on 4th July, 2020, the complainant detected

changes in the victim and when she questioned her, the victim told her that

the accused person lured her into his room, undressed her and forcibly had

sexual intercourse with her. Armed with this information, the complainant

lodged a complaint at the Doryumu Police Station on 5th July, 2020. Based on

the complaint, the accused person was arrested by the Police and sent to the

Dodowa Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU). The

prosecution further states that during investigations, the accused person

denied the offence in his caution statement. After investigation, he was

charged with the offence of defilement and was arraigned before court.

THE PLEA

The accused person who at the time was self-represented pleaded not guilty

to the charge after it had been read and explained to him in the Twi language.

The accused person having pleaded not guilty to the charge put the facts of

the prosecution in issue and thereafter the prosecution assumed the onerous

burden to prove the guilt of the accused person beyond reasonable doubt.3

BURDEN OF PROOF

It is trite learning that in criminal cases, the burden is on the prosecution to

prove the guilt of the accused person beyond reasonable doubt. See Sections

11, 13, and 15 of the Evidence Act, 1975, (N.R.C.D. 323). In the case of

Banousin v. The Republic [2015-2016] 2 SCGLR 1232 at pag