OPUNI V. THE STATE

ACOLATSE J.S.C. delivered the judgment of the court.: This is an appeal against the conviction of the appellant for murder before Apaloo J. (as he then was) on 7 January 1964, sitting with a jury in the Criminal Session of the High Court held at Kumasi. The charge alleged against the appellant was that on 27th November 1961 at Seniagya in the Ashanti Region he murdered one Kwaku Boaitey.

Before dealing with the points of law raised by learned counsel for the appellant it is necessary to relate the facts surrounding the death of the deceased. There was no eye-witness to the murder. The case for the prosecution therefore depended entirely on circumstantial evidence.

The facts are as follows: The appellant herein is a nephew of the deceased, the ex-Adumasahene of Seniagya. He succeeded the deceased who was destooled as Adumasahene. He is a storekeeper by occupation at Seniagya. The prosecution led evidence to establish motive in that there had been litigation over cocoa farms since the app…