The Deputy Attorney General, Alfred Tuah Yeboah, has supported the recent directive issued by presiding judge Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh in the trial of James Gyakye Quayson, the Member of Parliament for Assin North.
During the trial of the MP, Justice Yanzuh issued a cautionary statement, stating that if Quayson's legal team is unavailable to cross-examine the prosecution's first witness by Monday, July 31, the MP may be required to undertake the cross-examination himself.
The cross-examination of the prosecution's first witness was initially expected to conclude on Friday, July 28. However, Quayson's lawyers were notably absent from the courtroom on that day.
In a letter addressed to the court, Justin Teriwajah, the lawyer on record, informed the judge about a three-day medical excuse provided by his doctor.
The letter also requested an adjournment to a date after the legal break beginning after July 31. However, the presiding judge declined the adjournment request.
However, the presiding judge declined the adjournment request.
The Deputy Attorney General, Tuah Yeboah, emphasised that the cross-examination had been unduly delayed since July 2022 and stressed the importance of expediting the process.
“PW1 [Prosecution’s Witness 1] has been in the witness box since July 12, 2022, and so for over one year, a simple cross-examination that the counsel for the accused person said was going to use two hours to do has taken us such a period.
“Today when we went to court, counsel for the accused had sent a letter to the effect that he was indisposed and was given a three-day excuse duty and we know that the court will be going on vacation by July 31 so I made a point that we cannot have a witness in the box for three legal years and so the judge in her wisdom said she will need the cross-examination of the first prosecution witness completed and so for that matter if the counsel of the accused does not show up, she may need the accused to do the cross-examination himself,” the deputy attorney general said.
NW/OGB
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Deputy Attorney General, Alfred Tuah Yeboah
