The High Court in Accra has fixed Wednesday, December 4, 2024, for the jury to determine the fate of Daniel Asiedu, the man accused of the murder of the late Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North, Joseph Boakye Danquah Adu.
The date was fixed after the prosecution, led by Mrs. Sefakor Batse, a Principal State Attorney, concluded her cross-examination of Asiedu.
Defence lawyers, led by Yaw Danquah, before closing the case of his client, Daniel Asiedu, said they had no witnesses to call.
Asiedu, affectionately called ‘Sexy Don Don,’ a name that he has since denied, pleaded not guilty to the charge of the murder of the late MP for Abuakwa North, JB Danquah Adu.
He has also pleaded not guilty to the charge of robbery, while he had previously been acquitted of conspiracy to rob together with one Vincent Bosso.
Cross-Examination
In court on Thursday, November 21, 2024, Mrs. Sefakor Batse, a Principal State Attorney, took Asiedu on in the prosecution’s final cross-examination.
Under scrutiny, Asiedu said the court should believe his story and not that of the prosecution.
“All that the prosecution is saying is not true,” he said, adding, “The truth as I remember is that the police also took me to a certain house, gave me a cup to hold, and took photographs of me,” Asiedu said while being confronted by the prosecution on evidence connecting him to the crime.
Mrs. Batse, the PSA, had put to Asiedu that per Exhibit G (a red cap found in the compound of Abigail Marfo, PW6), it identified that it “generated 100% of your DNA.”
The PSA also said Exhibit H, a green container he (Asiedu) “used to fetch water from the water barrel” to wash his face, also “generated 100% of your DNA.”
But in his responses, Asiedu said those assertions were not true, before professing his side of the truth.
“The truth, as I remember, is that when the police took me to the house, they gave me certain things to hold which they wanted to use against me, such as a red cap, cup, and attire. I believe that is what counsel is talking about,” Asiedu said.
It was the case of the prosecution that Asiedu’s claims that he was “tortured and beaten up on the instructions of Dampare” cannot be true and that he willingly gave statements to the police.
But Asiedu denied that, saying, “The truth is what I have already told this court on the subject.”
Statements
Mrs. Batse, the PSA, while putting it to Asiedu, said, “You gave more than 10 statements to the police, and even though you keep changing your story, one thing was constant throughout – the fact that you were in the house of JB Danquah on that day.”
But Asiedu denied that assertion and explained, “What is true about what the prosecution is saying is that when I was taken to Tiwaa Addo Danquah’s office, they told me to accept every statement and thumbprint those statements.
“That is why you see in those statements what is stated, but that is not true,” Asiedu said.
I Have Only One Statement
It was the case of the prosecution that the accused was in the house of JB Danquah Adu, and his statements captured in exhibits S, U, and W showed that he (Asiedu) was in the house of the late MP, and he also stabbed him to death.
But Asiedu denied that, saying, “I remember writing only one statement to the police. But all other statements that were brought for me to thumbprint, I was forced to do so in handcuffs.”
Stabbing and Robbing
Mrs. Batse, while putting it to Asiedu that he did not only “stab” JB Danquah but also “robbed” him of his phones, which is why the phones were found in his possession.
Asiedu, while denying that assertion, said, “The police never took any phones from me,” but “Rather, I heard they took the phones from another guy whom I do not know.”
“Whilst in prison, I also heard that the guy whom they collected the phones from, called Ursula Owusu and Ken Agyepong, went to their house, sat there for 30 minutes, and planned whatever they wanted to do.
“That is why they never brought this guy to the court to testify,” Asiedu observed.
Sexy Don Don vs Gucci Young Star
The PSA again put to Asiedu that his evidence before this court that his name is “Gucci Young Star” and that “Sexy Don Don” was given to him by Dampare was not true.
But Asiedu said, “It is true that my name is Daniel Asiedu, alias Gucci Young Star.”
“If the court will permit me, I can show the jury that Gucci Young Star is tattooed on my body,” he said.
While putting her last question to Asiedu, the PSA said, “Whether your alias is Sexy Don Don or Gucci Young Star, it does not change the fact that there is evidence before this court that you, Daniel Asiedu, went to the house of JB Danquah on or before February 8, 2016, robbed him, and intentionally caused his death by stabbing him.
“All that the prosecution is saying is not true, adding that I, Daniel Asiedu, have no issues with anybody, neither have I wronged anybody, and I’m innocent. I did not go to the house.
“The only time I went there was when the police took me there and mounted their cameras on me,” Asiedu said.
EIB Network’s Legal Affairs Correspondent, Murtala Inusah, reports that the prosecution and the defence will both address the jury on the same day, after which the trial, presided over by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, will be summed up for the jury to retire and return their verdict on December 4, 2024.
The verdict of the jury is binding on the court, and if Asiedu is found guilty of murder, he will be sentenced to life imprisonment.