Court of Appeal adjourns "Geeman" case

Accra (Greater Accra), 25 May,

The Court of Appeal adjourned to tomorrow, the case in which Nana Kwasi Agyeman, alias Geeman, a musician, has appealed against his conviction and sentence of death by hanging by an Accra High court. The adjournment followed the failure of Mr. Joe Ghartey, counsel for Geeman, who according to his junior counsel, has fallen sick and could not attend court. The court presided over by Mr. Justice A.A. Forster adjourned the case to enable Mr. Ghartey to turn up. Also convicted was Abeeku Nyame, alias Jagger Pee, an actor, who has also appealed against his sentence of life imprisonment imposed on him for abetment of Geeman's crime. Before the court could hear from counsel for the appellants, it asked Mr. Ellis Owusu-Fordwour, attorney for Jagger Pee if his client was eager to pursue the case. The court explained that the punishment for abetment of murder is also death sentence just as the substantive offence. Counsel was told that if his client pursued the case and at the end of the trial, the court found that a crime was committed and that he abetted it, the court has jurisdiction to review the sentence of life imprisonment to death. At this juncture, Mr. Owusu-Fordwour asked for adjournment to enable him to consult his client, which the court obliged.

Geeman's grounds for appeal were that "the trial judge intimidated the foreman of the jury to return a unanimous verdict, even though he (foreman) had earlier announced a majority decision. This, he contended, was a substanital miscarriage of justice. The appellant stated that the trial court erred in law by discharging the jury when its members were not unanimous and that its verdict was against the weight of evidence on record. Abeeku, in his grounds of appeal urged his conviction to be set aside because "it is unreasonable and can not be supported by law with regard to the evidence". He said the court misdirected the jury which occasioned a miscarriage of justice. gri.