By Beatrice Oppon
The Accra High Court has ordered one of the Jurors in the case involving two teenage boys who allegedly murdered a 10-year-old boy in Kasoa, to appear in Court on the next adjourned date or a Bench Warrant will be issued for his arrest.
The Judge, Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, gave the order after the foreman of the jury informed the Court of the juror’s decision not to be part of the panel again. Justice Osei Marfo, who was unhappy with the juror’s last-minute decision, said trial by a jury is not a joke.
She said jurors are Constitutionally mandated to carry out their duty until the final determination of the case.
The trial was set for the prosecution to call the first witness. The court was, however, taken aback when the leader of the jury informed the court of a decision by one of the members to discontinue the trial.
The said Juror who is a staff at the Department of Social Welfare, Accra, is said to have written to the Court in respect of his decision. Justice Osei Marfo, however, indicated that the court has not been served with the supposed letter.
The judge recounted that it was agreed at the last adjourned date by all parties including the jury on firm dates for the hearing. She was therefore expecting to carry out the business of the day. The Court said it would assume that the juror is absent from today’s hearing.
The judge said the case completion plan must be followed and consequently ordered that the absentee juror to appear on the next adjourned date, which is Monday, March 13 and on time. She said failure to comply with the directive, will force her to issue a bench warrant for his arrest.
The trial suffered some setbacks following the delay in empaneling a jury until last October 25. The two accused teenagers are alleged to have killed the deceased, Ishmael Mensah Abdallah, for ritual purposes.
They allegedly lured the deceased, who was their friend, to an uncompleted building in the evening of April 3, 2021 and hit him with a cement block leading to his death.
