General News of Friday, 13 April 2012

Source: GNA

State appeals against the acquittal of Jesus One Touch

The State has appealed against the ruling of an Accra High Court, which released Nana Kofi Yirenkyi aka Jesus One Touch, Founder and General Overseer of Jesus Blood Prophetic Ministry International serving 10-year-jail term.

Jesus One Touch was convicted for incest and defilement.

The State was praying the Court of Appeal to quash the acquittal and discharge of Nana Yirenkyi as the High Court’s reason that the trial judge erred in relying solely on the evidence of the victim was wrong and unsupported by any evidence or authority.

In a notice of appeal filed on Friday, the State is praying the Court of Appeal to set aside the judgment on the grounds that it was unreasonable having regard to the evidence.

On March 29, this year, the High Court overturned the decision of an Accra Circuit Court after the accused had appealed against his conviction.

Jesus One Touch was given a 10-year-jail sentence in January this year, for defiling his 10-year-old daughter.

The facts of the case are that the victim, who was born out of wedlock, lived with the complainant, Madam Bernice Owiredu Asmaa, until 2005, when she left to live with the accused at his McCarthy Hills residence in Accra, to attend school.

The prosecution said between 2008 and 2009, the accused started defiling the victim, on Tuesdays, Thursday and Sundays before every church service.

In November 2009, the accused granted the victim’s mother the opportunity to talk to her because she was putting up a bad behaviour, the prosecutor told the court.

The prosecution noted that it was during the interaction, that the victim revealed her ordeal to the complainant, who reported the case to the police.

The Court of Appeal is yet to fix a date to hear the notice of appeal.**