Eleven of Major Maxwell Adam Mahama’s 14 suspected murderers have accused the police of pressuring them to admit to the military officer’s murder.
As a result, their attorneys have objected to their warning statements, which include the purported admissions, being used as proof in their Accra High Court trial.
This came up yesterday as the case prosecutor, Chief Inspector Samuel Agyakwa, attempted to introduce the accused persons’ warning and charge statements into testimony.
Bernard Asamoah, aka Daddy; Kofi Nyarko, aka Abortion; Akwasi Baah, Kwame Tuffour, Joseph Appiah Kubi, Michael Anim, Bismark Donkor, John Bosie, Akwasi Baah, Charles Kwaning, and Emmanuel Badu are among the 11 people arrested.
The other three accused — William Baah, Bismark Abanga, and Kwadwo Anima — had their caution and charge statements admitted into evidence without objection from the defense lawyers.
The 14 defendants rendered warning remarks to the authorities as they were arrested.
Chief Inspector Agyakwa, the prosecution’s 14th and final witness, had already entered several objects into court, including the video, which is expected to include specifics of Major Mahama’s suspected murder.
The warning and charging statements were the last set of exhibits he had to provide in order for the prosecution to wrap up its argument.
Objecting to the tendering of the documents, counsel for the 11 convicted parties — Mr Bernard Shaw and Mr Theophilus Donkor — protested that their clients did not knowingly send the statements to the authorities, but rather they provided them under duress.
The two defense attorneys argued that confessions must be given voluntarily, and that coercing a suspect to give a statement was a violation of Section 120 of the Evidence Act, 1975.
Read Also: My teacher at Prempeh College told me I will struggle in life – Wontumi
Mrs Evelyn Keelson, a Chief State Attorney, denied this, claiming that the convicted people knowingly gave the statements to the police in accordance with Section 120 of the Evidence Act.
The presiding judge, Justice Mariama Owusu, a Justice of the Supreme Court serving as a High Court judge, ordered that a mini trial must be held in light of the defense lawyers’ objections.
Justice Owusu said, “The mini trial will determine the veracity or otherwise of counsel’s objection.”
As a result, she ordered the parties to submit their witnesses for the mini-trial, which will take place on April 30.
Since the disputed objects are not yet in court, the seven-member panel would not be available at the mini courtroom.
Not guilty
On May 29, 2017, Major Mahama was assassinated in the Central Region’s Denkyira Obuasi.
He was reported to have been lynched while walking to Denkyira Obuasi in the morning.
On different social media sites, a video of him allegedly being lynched went viral.
The 14 defendants have pled not guilty to offenses of homicide, abetment to murder, and murder plot.
SOURCE: ATLFMONLINE
