COMMISSIONER OF POLICE v. MARBOAH
[HIGH COURT, KUMASI]
DATE: 10TH DECEMBER, 1962
JUDGMENT OF APALOO J.
As long ago as 1894, it was stated in the case of Makin v. Attorney-General for New South Wales
[1894] A.C. 57 at p. 65 that “it is undoubtedly not competent for the prosecution to adduce evidence
tending to shew that the accused had been guilty of criminal acts other than those covered by the
indictment, for the purpose of leading to a conclusion that the accused is a person likely from his
criminal conduct or character to have committed the offence for which he is being tried.” The
prosecution in recording a statement of the accused’s previous convictions and submitting it to the
court as part of their case have indubitably offended against what I would call one of the most deeply
rooted and jealously guarded principles of criminal justice. In a case which is admittedly wholly
circumstantial, I find it impossible to say that if this highly prejudicial evidence had not been
communicated to the court, the learned circuit judge would have inevitably come to the same
conclusion. In the circumstances, the conviction ought not to be allowed to stand. It is quashed. For
it, I substitute a finding of Not Guilty and order that the accused be discharged.
(Commissioner of Police v. Marboah. Apaloo, J).
