Investigator fails to attend coke trial

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday, November 14, 2007
A Fast Track High Court in Accra was on Monday compelled to adjourn a case in which a policeman and a civilian are standing trial for allegedly dealing in cocaine because the investigator in the case failed to appear before it to give evidence.

The investigator, Chief Inspector Addai, could not come to court because he is reportedly attending a cadet officers’ course.

The case involves Lance Corporal Ekow Russell, one of nine policemen interdicted in April, last year, for dealing in cocaine, and a civilian Maxwell Antwi, whom the police say Russell had supplied the narcotic drugs.

When the case was called, Mrs. Evelyn Keelson, a Principal State Attorney prosecuting, told the court presided over by Justice S.Y. Anim of the Court of Appeal, that the investigator was aware of the date but did not know the reasons for his failure to appear before the court.

“Mr. Addai was in the courtroom last week when the court took the date. I wrote to notify him about the date and personally called him this morning but he did not respond or return the call.”

Based on this, Captain Nkrabea Effah-Darteh (rtd), counsel for the accused, asked the court to exercise its discretion to grant bail to the accused persons because the prosecution was not ready to proceed with the trial.

He said although the offence under which the two had been charged did not warrant the grant of bail, “the prosecution is not zealous to go ahead with the case.”

But in a quick response, Mrs. Keelson rejected counsel’s submission saying, ‘When the case started, we took about four adjournments to enable the accused to secure the services of counsel because we wanted to ensure that justice is done.”

She said it was not true that the prosecution had delayed the trial adding, “They were arrested in April and by July full trial had commenced. It is rather counsel who should be blamed because he always comes to court late.”

The court then adjourned proceedings until November 14, and asked the prosecution to take steps to get the investigator to testify.

Russell is facing three counts of possession of narcotic drugs without lawful authority, supplying narcotic drugs without lawful authority, and dealing in prohibited business relating to narcotic drugs. Antwi is charged with one count of possession of narcotic drugs without lawful authority.

On November 2, the court dismissed an application for discontinuation of the case against Russell. His counsel, Captain Effah-Darteh (retired), had submitted that he had been processed before the Police Service Enquiry at the same time that the trial was proceeding.

The facts of the case are that on March 27, Antwi was arrested by the police with a whitish powdered substance which was later tested and found to be cocaine.

During interrogation, he alleged that it was part of 900 grammes of cocaine given to him by Russell to sell and claimed that he had already sold some quantities and given the proceeds to Russell.

The prosecution said investigations revealed that on January 16, Russell, together with a team of policemen and accompanied by some Nigerian informants, arrested Sebastian Uba, also a Nigerian, with eight slabs of cocaine.

Russell, according to the prosecution, asked his colleagues to position themselves outside Uba's house while he entered with the informants.

"While his colleagues sent the suspect to the police station, Russell and the informants drove in one car towards Achimota with the cocaine and when they got to a point, Russell shared the drugs among the informants."

Russell allegedly gave five slabs of the cocaine to the informants, brought one to the office as exhibit and kept two, thus creating the impression that he had seized only one slab from Uba.

The prosecution further told the court that Uba escaped from police custody on January 31, when Russell was instructed to take him from the La District Police Station to the Regional C.I.D. for investigations.