Jesus Onetouch case takes a new twist
The appeal hearing of the Founder and General Overseer of Jesus Blood Prophetic Ministry, Prophet Kofi Yirenkyi aka Jesus Onetouch, took a new twist yesterday as the court was stopped from ruling on the appeal filed by the man of God against his 10-year jail term for defiling his 10-year-old daughter.
Rexford Wiredu, the principal state attorney handling the case, arrested the judgment which was about to be delivered at an Accra High Court yesterday.
Mr. Wiredu told the court, presided over by Justice Emmanuel Dzapkasu, that the state that had no records of appeal prepared in the case and it must be done before judgment proceeded and requested the court to order the Circuit Court to prepare the records of appeal.
According to the state attorney, what was available to them as record of proceedings could not be said to be the records because it had no index and must therefore be structured properly.
Mr. Wiredu said he was served by counsel for the appellant with additional submission of statement of case on July 12 and he received it on July 14 so he needed time to respond to it.
The trial judge had the case adjourned sine die and ordered the Circuit Court Registrar to make the records of appeal available to the state.
Patrick Adomako Acheampong, counsel for Jesus Onetouch, told the court that he, as counsel for the appellant had done what he was required by law to do.
He prayed the court not to adjourn the judgment and observed that the action by the state attorney was a deliberate attempt to delay justice.
Prophet Jesus Onetouch was some months ago slapped with a 10-year jail term in hard labour by an Accra Circuit court for defilement and incest.
He however bounced back after serving five months of his jail term and filed an appeal challenging the verdict by the Circuit Court on the grounds that the judge erred in delivering such judgment when the defence had created sufficient doubts in the case of the prosecution.
Mr. Adomako Acheampong and Mr Wiredu, at the last hearing, appeared before the High Court presided over by Justice Dzakpasu for the appeal to be heard.
The convict is praying the high court to quash the decision of the lower court.
However when the case was called, Mr. Wiredu sought an adjournment after informing the judge that their statement of case was not ready.
According to him, he had a discussion with the Director of Public Prosecution, Gertrude Aikins, who advised that he should make a short address. Meanwhile, Prophet Onetouch was absent in court yesterday.
Onetouch was convicted and sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment on each of the two charges of defilement and incest but the sentences were to run concurrently.
The Circuit court, presided over by Mrs. Georgina Mensah Datsa, found him guilty of having sexual intercourse with his 10-year-old daughter although the prophet still maintained his innocence.
Mrs. Mensah-Datsa, in her judgment that lasted for about 25 minutes, indicated that the victim was truthful as her evidence was corroborated by prosecution witnesses and medical reports.
The two reports from doctors who examined the victim according to the judge, said the hymen was not intact and that corroborated the victim’s story.
The pastor, dissatisfied with the ruling, has appealed against the verdict on the grounds that “the trial judge convicted and sentenced the appellant without adverting her mind to the evidence given by one of the prosecution’s own witnesses, ACP Dr. Samuel Amo-Mensah, an obstetrician and gynecologist at the Police Hospital.
“And also a police officer stationed at Akropong who was part of the investigating team, who according to him, helped build the case docket and also served as an independent witness of the appellant”.
These two pieces of evidence, the appellant noted, raised serious doubt in the case of the prosecution”.
The appellant observed that Mrs. Datsa failed “to advert her mind to the sheer implausibility of the evidence especially that of Bernice Owiredu, the mother and victim, adduced for the prosecution”.
Source Daily Guide Ghana
Category: Religion
Pingback: Salts rubbed in Bishop Daniel Obinim wounds