Counsel for Richard Jakpa has objected to the Attorney General’s attempt to tender into evidence, what prosecution says is the full WhatsApp chat between Godfred Yeboah Dame and Richard Jakpa.
Thaddeus Sory argued that, no proper foundation has been laid for the evidence to be tendered into evidence, contending that the WhatsApp chat as presented by the prosecution is not complete.
He is therefore asking the court to compare the AG’s phone records and Jakpa’s phone records to verify the authenticity of what prosecution is trying to tender into evidence.
Mr. Sory argues that some chats on Richard Jakpa’s phone does not appear on what AG seek to present and so it does not give a full picture of the conversation between the AG and Richard Jakpa.
However, Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe in her ruling asserted that the court has already admitted the WhatsApp chat of the 3rd accused.
She stressed that since prosecution is submitting the chat as the complete interaction between himself and Jakpa, the evidence will be admitted as exhibit BE.
Background
During proceedings on Tuesday, June 18, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, highlighted the substantial number of messages sent by Mr Jakpa compared to the limited responses from the Attorney-General.
The DPP sought to introduce all WhatsApp messages sent by Mr Jakpa into evidence.
Mr Jakpa acknowledged introducing himself to the Attorney General before the trial and obtaining the Justice Minister’s contact information through his cousin, Supreme Court Judge, Justice Yonny Kulendi.
Under cross-examination, Mr Jakpa admitted that the messages presented in court did not encompass the entire conversation but were selected based on relevance to his case.
The attempt by the DPP to submit the WhatsApp conversation faced objections from Mr Sory, counsel for Mr Jakpa, who argued that the defence required additional time to thoroughly review the messages.
Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe then sought Dr Bamba (counsel for the first accused)’s input, regarding objections to the submission.
Dr Bamba objected, citing the lack of colour printing in the document, surprising the judge as the printout provided by Mr Jakpa also lacked colour.
Following these objections, the court instructed the DPP to defer the submission of the messages until the defence had adequate time to examine them, scheduling this review for today’s session.
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