The substantive trial of the case in which Daniel Asiedu alias Sexy Don Don is facing the charge of murder has been restored after nine months following the conclusion of the mini trial.
The Criminal Division of the Accra High Court on July 19, last year, put the substantive trial on hold for a mini trial after lawyers of Asiedu and Vincent Bossu accused the police of coercing them into giving statements without their will.
Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, the presiding judge after hearing testimonies from the investigator, independent witnesses and upon hearing the accused persons’ testimonies ruled that, the statements given to the police by the accused persons were voluntarily taken.
“I have looked at the various statements tendered by the prosecution as well as evidence of prosecution witnesses,” the court said.
“I have also considered the defence of both accused persons and I hereby ruled that the statements the accused persons offered to the police which were tendered during the mini trial by the prosecution was made voluntarily by the accused persons,” Justice Lydia Osei Marfo ruled.
“They were not coerced by the police to make any statements, neither were they promises any favours before they voluntarily gave their cautioned or charged statements.
“The objection by the defence in respect of the cautioned statements not being voluntarily taken is overruled,” Justice Marfo stated after nine months of mini trial.
Background
It was the case of Sexy Don Don that the investigators subjected him to various degree of threat, coercion, intimation and violent abuse for him to accept whatever was thrown at him.
He also accused the investigators of forcefully holding his hands to sign those statements and also pushing him into thumb-printing them.
He, therefore, urged the court not to admit those statements which were going to be tendered into evidence by Chief Inspector Augustine Nkrumah, the eighth Prosecution Witness.
But, his allegations were strongly disputed by the Prosecution led by Mrs Sefakor Batse, a Principal State Attorney, who called the investigator, and independent witnesses who were present when those statements were taken to court to testify.
It was the case of the prosecution during the mini-trial that the accused person voluntarily gave his statements to the police in the presence of an independent witness who in turned explained to him in the language he understood.
The prosecution pointed out the inconsistencies in the testimonies of the accused person during the cross examination.
Vincent Bossu, the second accused, who has been charged together with Asiedu for abetment also gave a similar account and was subjected to cross-examination.
Sexy Don Don is also separately facing the charge of robbery.
-By Murtala Inusah|Starrfm|Ghana
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