Lawyers for Asabke Alangdi have questioned the ruling of a seven-member jury which has found their client guilty of conspiracy to commit murder over the killing of former Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The lawyers wondered how the jury could find their client guilty on the charge of conspiracy to commit murder when his alleged collaborator, Gregory Afoko has not been found guilty of same crime.
For them, the decision of the jury is preposterous.
“How can a person conspire against himself, be found guilty and the person that he was accused of conspiring with is found not guilty,” one of the lawyers said.
They have, therefore, vowed to seek a reversal of ruling at the Court of Appeal.
The seven-member jury, in a unanimous decision today, found Asabke Alangdi guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and accordingly, sentenced him to death.
His alleged conspirator in the commitment of the crime, Gregory Afoko will, however, face a retrial.
This was after the jury retuned a 4:3 verdict, finding him not guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, Graphic Online reports.
According to the Criminal Procedure Act, 1960 (Act 30), a 4:3 ruling by a jury in a murder case makes it a hung jury and there must be a retrial.
Chairman Adams, as he was affectionately called, died after he was bathed with acid in May 2015.
While on his death bed at the Upper East Regional Hospital, Mr. Adams mentioned the names of his attackers.
Gregory Afoko was subsequently arrested and charged to court for his alleged role in the murder.
When the trial was at its tail end in 2019, Asabke Alangdi, who was hiding in neighboring Ivory Coast, was also apprehended, resulting in the court discontinuing Afoko’s prosecution and committing both to trial.
