The Office of the Attorney-General (A-G) has appealed to the Supreme Court to reverse the Court of Appeal decision to acquit and discharge Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, and businessman, Richard Jakpa. Dr. Forson and Jakpa, who were standing trial on charges of causing financial loss of €2.37 million to the state in an ambulance deal, were set free by the Court of Appeal on July 30, this year, after the court held that there was no prima facie case for them to answer at the trial High Court.
The A-G’s appeal filed at the Supreme Court yesterday is asking the highest court of the land to set aside the decision by the Court of Appeal and order Dr Forson and Jakpa to continue to stand trial at the High Court. The appeal by the A-G is premised on 10 grounds, ranging from fundamental errors of law, misdirection and substantial miscarriage of justice. It is the position of the A-G that the Court of Appeal misdirected itself when it held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case for Dr Forson and Jakpa to answer by opening their defence.
The A-G indicated that the Court of Appeal failed to consider the fact that after presenting its case, the duty required of the prosecution was to establish whether the accused persons had a case to answer. Again, the A-G averred that the Court of Appeal committed an error of law by downplaying the role of Dr Forson in the entire transactions that led to the criminal action.
