There Will Be Failure Of Justice If A Retrial Is Not Conducted - Attorney General On Paul Afoko's Murder Case

If a retrial is not conducted, there will be a failure of justice – Attorney General Attorney General Godfred Dame disagrees with the opinion that murder suspect Gregory Afoko's human rights will be violated if the Adam Maahama murder case is retried.Thursday on Upfront on JoyNews, he stated that Ghana's laws make it plain that when a jury is unable to reach a unanimous verdict, a retrial must be conducted to ensure that justice is served.In countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States, mistrials have resulted in the resumption of jury trials on numerous occasions.

Sometimes the jury is reconstituted three to five times while the trial continues...I am not suggesting that this will be an endless trial, but based on the specifics of Ghana's statutes, we are required to conduct a retrial.

If a retrial is not conducted in this case, it will be a failure of justice, he told host Kojo Yankson."This is a case in which the evidence presented at trial indicates that the victim was killed by having acid poured on him and that acid was discovered on Gregory Afoko and so forth.

"Of course, it is up to the jury to reach whatever verdict it deems appropriate, but a jury trial itself is governed by a number of laws, which is why the law requires a retrial if there is a lack of unanimity in the verdict."JoyNews and AdomNews Afoko trial: If a retrial is not conducted, there will be a failure of justice – Attorney General Gregory Afoko, the sibling of former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Chairman Paul Afoko, has been on trial for the murder of former NPP Upper East regional chairman Adams Mahama for the past eight years.On April 27, state prosecutors are compelled to contemplate retrying Mr. Afoko after a 7-person jury on Thursday afternoon was unable to reach a unanimous verdict of 7-0 on the charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.However, the jury deemed his co-defendant Asabke Alangdi guilty of conspiracy to commit murder.


On the charge of homicide, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty by a vote of 4 to 3.

This has caused his legal team great concern.For Gregory Afoko to be found guilty of Capital Offenses, including murder, the jury must reach a verdict of unanimous culpability.The family of former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Regional Chairman Adams Mahama described the verdict as disappointing."We believe the prosecution presented compelling evidence, so we are dissatisfied with the outcome.

But regardless of the outcome, it was not a particularly terrible case because the jury deadlocked 4-3 and only one person was convicted and sentenced to death, he told JoyNews.Mr. Namoo added that his side will wait to see what the court does next.Mr. Dame believes there are fundamental faults in the verdict, given that the second defendant charged with murder conspiracy alongside Gregory Afoko was found guilty but Afoko himself was not."The indictment indicates that we alleged that he (the second accused) conspired with the first accused (Mr. Afoko), so how can the jury find the second accused guilty of conspiracy on his own and exclude the first?