An Accra High Court has ordered the Registrar of the Criminal Division of the court to provide a pool of 25 competent men and women for the empanelling of a jury for the trial of two teenagers, who allegedly killed an 11-year-old boy at Kasoa in the Central Region last year.
According to the court, the pool is to be made up of neutral people, and devoid of professional jurors – jurors who have appeared in several jury trials.
The court, presided over by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, also ordered the Registrar to provide a pool, which should not include a potential juror who is above 55 years or any person with health conditions that will require permissions to attend hospital.
Again, any juror who is currently engaged in more than two cases is to be excluded from the pool; which should desirably contain a fresh set of people for the case to be tried expeditiously to have the desired outcome.
The Registrar is to ensure that the pool of jurors is made available on April 5, 2022, which is the next date for the trial.
Justice Marfo gave the order after the prosecution, led by Nana Adoma Osei, told the court that they had filed the last batch of their disclosures as ordered.
Samuel Atuah, counsel for the accused persons, told the court that he has not been served with the documents, the court therefore ordered the prosecution to ensure the documents are served on the defence.
Meanwhile, the court has heard that the investigator in the case has begun investigating the alibi raised by Nicholas Kini, one of the accused persons.
Nana Adoma Osei had told the court that they were served with the notice of alibi, and so they made a copy for the investigator who was not served with the notice.
Felix Nyarko and Nicholas Kini, were committed by a Kaneshie Magistrate Court in August of last year, after it found that there was enough evidence for them to stand trial for the alleged murder of Ishmael Mensah Abdallah.
The gruesome murder of 11-year-old Ishmael Mensah Abdallah stunned the nation, when graphic pictures of the deceased, in the midst of an angry crowd being prevented by the police from lynching the teenagers, went viral on social media and on mainstream television.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak