‘Cocaine Judge Was Hostile To Me’

The Prosecuting Attorney in the case of the controversial cocaine-turned sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) saga, Stella Arhin, has claimed she was scolded by the trial judge at the circuit court when she attempted to challenge the re-testing of the substance after its earlier admission in evidence.

“When counsel for Nana Ama Martin, the accused person, Kwabla Senanu asked for the exhibit to be retested, I got very worried and tried to challenge the counsel and query why the objection was not raised on the first day the exhibit was brought to the court, but the trial judge, Eric Kyei Baffuor, saw my actions as rude and scolded me seriously.”

According to the prosecutor, who was the first to appear before the Dordzie committee, set up by the Chief Justice, Theodora Georgina Wood, to investigate the circumstances surrounding how cocaine being used as exhibit in a trial case later turned out to be baking soda yesterday, she became suspicious the moment the defense counsel raised the objection and asked for a retesting.

She explained that the brown envelope which contained the suspected cocaine had been wax sealed but was broken on the first day the exhibit was tendered at the court.

Ms Arhin told the four-member committee that Mr Kyei-Baffour insulted her when she objected to a second testing of the cocaine exhibit.

The prosecuting attorney further added that the judge, after scolding her, then ordered that the exhibit be re-tested.

“My fear was that there was no proper security when the envelope that contained the evidence for ascertainment was handed over to the judiciary. The moment the envelope was broken, the signatures endorsed on the brown envelope were all destroyed.”

She said, “If counsel had objected on the first day, we would not have broken the envelope seal but would have sent it back to the Ghana Standards Board for retesting. We all inspected the envelope on the first day and saw that it had been sealed with various signatures appended on it.

“My worry was why counsel did not raise an objection that the substance in the envelope was not cocaine but waited till the next day after the sealed had been broken”.

Justice Agnes Dordzie, the chairperson of the committee, noted that the trial judge, Mr Kyei-Baffour’s citation of the Supreme Court in the matter was wrong and asked why the state attorney at the centre of the case did not raise objections.

During cross examination, members of the committee criticized the prosecuting attorney for failing to demand that the exhibit be destroyed after it was tendered in as evidence.

The panel was of the view that the prosecutor made a mistake by failing to remind the court to destroy the cocaine, alleging that it could have made it easy to swap the real cocaine with the baking soda.

The head of the Narcotics Unit, Kofi Adjei Tuadzra, made a second appearance before the committee and said that when he was informed that the exhibit had been broken and handed over to the judiciary without proper sealing, he was very worried and called the State Attorney to find out what was going on.

“After speaking with the State Attorney, I was seriously convinced that something had gone wrong.”

In what appeared to confirm the counter-accusations of the police and the judiciary, when a judicial staff, Daniel Nyatsidzi, took his turn, he insisted that the seal was intact. “I am of the view that what was brought to court was what I placed there since the following morning when I went to the office, everything was intact.”

Yet, when he was asked as to why he did not keep the exhibit in the strong room, he admitted that he erred.

Consequently, Justice Dordzie scolded the judicial staff after the panel heard that he failed to send the exhibit to the strong room meant for such items but rather kept it in the registry since he was the only one who had the keys to that room.

He said after the seal was broken, the envelope was given to him stapled and closed with a cellotape without signatories, prompting concerns that it could have made tampering with the exhibit easy.

Though Mr Nyatsidzi insisted that the seal was intact when he retrieved it the next day, he added that “it was during cross examination that the defence counsel said he did not believe that the substance was the same and should therefore be re-tested.”

Justice Dordzie thought he was careless and that he should have known better, which he responded that “he would hence ensure that the right thing is done.”

Fredric Tetteh Kudronie, registrar, also appeared before the committee and testified that he was only asked to have the envelope re-sealed and did not know the content. “It was later that my assistant informed me.”

In all, five witnesses appeared before the committee on its second sitting. Sitting is expected to last seven days.