Try asking the following...
Try asking the following...
July 31, 2023
CIRCUIT COURT
GHANA
CORAM
RULING ON WHETHER A PRIMA FACIE CASE HAS BEEN MADE BY
THE PROSECUTION
Background:
The Accused Person was charged with the offence of Stealing: Contrary to
Section 124(1) of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29). The brief
facts of the matter as incorporated from the Charge Sheet are as follows;
‚Complainant Matilda Bremansu is a trader and lives at Kamara near Dansoman.
Accused Thomas Kodzo is a designer of Plaster of Paris (P.O.P) and lives at
Bortianor. During the month of February 2023, Complainant engaged the accused to
mould and fix P. O. P. and corner design mould for her at her site at TungaDansoman. Complainant duly paid for the charges accused person charged her.
Complainant trusted accused hence she does not visit the site regularly. Later when
complainant went to the site at Dansoman Tunga Down to check on the progress of
the work, she realized that the accused has collected some of her mould products to another site to fix some for his client without her consent. Complainant confronted
the accused person who admitted having used the materials to work on another
person’s site. Accused admitted his offence and promised to pay complainant all the
materials worth Ghc10, 000.00 which he stole from her site. Whilst the case was
under investigation, accused person was granted police enquiry bail to be reporting
weekly, however, after he reported twice accused person went into hiding. Police fell
on the surety who had information that the accused was hiding at Nkawkaw in the
Eastern Region. Surety went to Nkawkaw where with the help of Nkawkaw Police,
accused was re-arrested and brought to Dansoman. After investigation, accused was
charged with the offence of stealing and arraigned before this honorable court‛.
The Plea
On the 10th of day of May, 2023, the Accused Person pleaded not guilty to the
offences after same was read and explained to him in the Twi Language. The
Prosecution assumed the burden to prove the guilt of the Accused Person
beyond reasonable doubt. To prove their case, the Prosecution called Three
(3) Witnesses and tendered in evidence the following;
1. Exhibit “A” - Statement of PW 1 to the Police;
2. Exhibit “B” - Statement of PW 2 to the Police;
3. Exhibit “C” - Caution Statement of the Accused Person;
4. Exhibit “D” - Charge Statement of the Accused person;
5. Exhibit “E” - Further Caution Statement of Accused Person
At the close of the case of the Prosecution, the Court has to det
AI Generated Summary
Her Honour Halimah El-Alawa Abdul-Baasit, sitting as a Circuit Court Judge, ruled on whether the prosecution had established a prima facie case of stealing against Thomas Kodzo, a designer of Plaster of Paris engaged by complainant Matilda Bremansu to install P.O.P. at her Tunga, Dansoman site. After Bremansu paid GH24,500, she alleged Kodzo removed materialsincluding eight P.O.P boards, four corner moulds, and two buckets of home charm paintto use elsewhere; Kodzo allegedly admitted and promised to pay GH10,000. The prosecution called three witnesses, including a painter who photographed Kodzo carrying materials and a police officer who found stolen items at a nearby uncompleted building. Reciting the constitutional presumption of innocence, the burden of proof under section 11(2) of the Evidence Act, and case law on prima facie standards, the court found the prosecutions evidence sufficient to require Kodzo to open his defence. The court emphasized that a prima facie ruling does not determine guilt.