Get a lawyer - Court orders JB ‘killers’

An Accra High Court (Criminal Division) has ordered the two persons accused of murdering Joseph Boakye Danquah-Adu, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa North in the Eastern Region, to get a lawyer for the trial.

The court, presided over by Justice Lawrence L. Mensah, noted that the case is a serious one for which the presence of a lawyer is crucial.

The order follows comments from one of the accused persons Daniel Asiedu, 19, aka Sexy Don Don that he had not heard from his lawyer.

He told the court that the last time he saw his lawyer, Augustines Obour was during the committal proceedings at the district court.

Sexy Don Don further told the court that he had also lost contact with his relatives since his transfer from police custody to the Nsawam Prisons.

But Justice Mensah, explaining the dynamics of the trial to him (Daniel) and his accomplice, Vincent Bosso aka Junior Agogo, stated that the trial is different in that court.

He said, “The process at the district court was separate and distinct from the trial which is at this court.”

Justice Mensah stressed that the accused persons must get a lawyer to represent them.

He further stated that the state prosecutor, Sefakor Batsa, had written to inform the court that state attorneys were on a three-day course.

Junior Agogo then raised his hand and informed the judge of his innocence.

He said he was “sitting his somewhere” when he was arrested by the police, insisting that he’s innocent.

But the judge urged him to be patient, especially when their pleas had not been taken by the court.

Daniel Asiedu has been slapped with the charge of murder while Agogo faces conspiracy to murder.

In the case of Agogo, the prosecution held that he at about 1:00 am on February 9, 2016 at Shiashie, East Legon in Accra, conspired with Daniel to commit murder.

Sexy Don Don, according to the prosecution, on the same day and time intentionally and unlawfully caused the death of the MP.

Agogo, according to the prosecution’s Bill of Indictment, did not enter the house of the MP because of a misunderstanding with Sexy Don Don on which house to rob.

The district court has committed the two young men for trial at the high court because the state has established a prima facie case against them.