TSINOWOPE v. THE REPUBLIC

This criminal appeal arose from a High Court trial in Accra where the appellant was indicted for murdering Amadu Tunde after a street-side confrontation over money Tunde had taken from the appellant’s girlfriend. During the encounter, Tunde slapped the appellant, who returned a single slap, and Tunde fell supine; witnesses also described an earlier fight between Tunde and three girls. Tunde’s father later found him comatose, and he died by the next morning. Autopsy revealed acute bilateral massive subdural hemorrhages; Dr. Yao Tettey noted such bleeding could result from a blow, fall, or hard-object strike and may present with delay. The defence’s submission of no case was overruled, and the jury convicted the appellant of manslaughter. On appeal, OSEI-HWERE J.A. held that the trial judge erred by treating withdrawal of the murder charge as a factual issue for the jury; under section 271, it is a legal decision. While section 154(2) permits conviction of lesser offences, the proper verdict on these facts was assault. The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and substituted a conviction and sentence for assault.