An Accra High Court last week deleted the defence mounted by Kofi Nyame, one of the 14 persons accused of killing the late Major Maxwell Mahama at Denkyira Obuasi (New Obuasi) in the Ashanti Region in 2017.
The accused had opened his defence and began his testimony before the court and claimed he was drank when he threw a stone at the deceased and could therefore, not tell if it hit the late soldier.
The accused was expected to continue his testimony but his lawyer, Theophilus Donkor, prayed the court to adjourn the case to enable him have conference with his client because the prison officers could not allow him access to the accused.
The court presided over by Justice Mariama Owusu, a Court of Appeal Judge sitting as an additional High Court Judge, declined the request for an adjournment on the ground that the counsel had been representing the accused this whole time and had had several conferences with the accused even before he opened his defence.
There was a back and forth between the court and counsel and the court decided to stand the case down for one hour to allow counsel have conference with his client before the case was recalled.
Mr. Donkor declined the offer and after another back and forth told the court the accused wished to discontinue his defence.
The court, therefore struck out Kofi Nyame’s defence, meaning he will not be mounting any defence against the allegations made against him by the prosecution.
The court then adjourned the matter to yesterday for the fourth accused to open his defence but the case was once again adjourned to February 23, 2023, because a member of the jury was absent on health ground.
The Office of the Attorney General on May 16, 2022, closed its case in the trial of the 14 persons who allegedly lynched the late Major Maxwell Mahama at Denkyira Obuasi (New Obuasi) in May 2017.
Major Mahama was brutally lynched while on detachment duties with some military officers in Denkyira Obuasi.
He was the captain of the 31-member military team sent to the town to guard the properties of C&G Mining Company as a result of illegal mining activities in the area.
The 14 persons all pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against them although state prosecutors say the accused persons, except the then Assemblyman of the area, William Baah, were captured in a video during the crime.
The prosecution during the presentation of its case called 14 witnesses who gave various accounts of what happened on the day and what they witnessed.
Frances Mullen Ansah, a Chief State Attorney, during one of the proceedings led the case investigator in evidence when the court played the horrifying video which captured the accused persons lynching the deceased.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak