Richard Jakpa, Godfred Dame and Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson
The High Court in Accra has admitted into evidence all 68 WhatsApp messages between the Attorney General, Godfred Dame, and businessman, Richard Jakpa, the third accused in the ongoing trial of Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, which the state presented during proceedings on Tuesday, June 18, 2024.
According to a report by thelawplatform.online, Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, the Court of Appeals judge presiding over the case, indicated that she was admitting the messages on the grounds of completeness of evidence, fairness to the trial, and reciprocity.
This was after the lawyer for the 3rd accused objected to the tendering of the WhatsApp messages as evidence during proceedings on Thursday, June 20, 2024.
Jakpa’s lawyer, Thaddeus Sory, indicated that his objection was on the grounds of relevance and authenticity.
"Relying on section 52 of NRCD 232, Evidence Act (1972), Mr. Sory said the admission of the messages would pose a danger of unfairly prejudicing the trial. He said there are missing parts of the conversation between the 3rd accused, Richard Jakpa, and the A-G and therefore does not give a complete picture of the correspondence between the two.
"He also argued that the processes already filed in court suggest that the A-G did not read the messages and thus the chat is not relevant for the purposes the A-G wishes to have the WhatsApp conversation tendered," part of the report reads.
Lawyer Sory also argued that the WhatsApp chat print-out which the prosecution was seeking to tender does not reflect the conversation between Dame and Jakpa.
Also, Jakpa during his testimony stated that the messages had been tampered with.
However, the lawyer for the state, Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, the Director of Public Prosecutions, contended that the 68 messages were relevant as they were brought before the court through the same witness.
She argued that the chat previously submitted to the court through Jakpa was incomplete and therefore the chat presented by the state completes the conversation between the third accused and the Attorney General.
Lawyer Atakora Obuobisa also said the messages would assist the court, refuting the claim of omission by the lawyer of the third accused.
But Justice Serwah Asare-Botwe sided with the state prosecutor.
She pointed out that the court reserves the right to determine the weight of the evidence presented.
She also argued that reciprocity required that the part of the chat of the Attorney General also be admitted as that which Jakpa found relevant for his case was also admitted and in evidence.
BAI/AE
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