Former National Signals Bureau Director-General Kwabena Adu-Boahene remains confident in his legal team and has no intention of personally cross-examining a prosecution witness, according to his lead counsel, Samuel Atta Akyea.
Speaking on TV3, Atta Akyea said his client was comfortable with the representation he was receiving despite a High Court directive requiring him and his wife, Angela Adjei-Boateng, to appear in court with their lawyers on August 17.
The court had warned that should their lawyers fail to appear, the accused persons could be required to cross-examine the fourth prosecution witness themselves.
“He feels very, very comfortable with me. He believes I’m a very principle-centred lawyer. He believes I won’t shortchange him and he is not in any ambulance mode to cross-examine as a lay person, a prosecution witness,” Atta Akyea said.
The former Attorney General said the defence team would decide how to proceed in response to the court’s directive, stressing that they remained guided by their legal principles.
“We are not little boys in the game. I’m telling you what we believe as a principle,” he said.
Atta Akyea also questioned the idea of requiring a person without legal training to take over the questioning of a prosecution witness.
“How can a judge tell a carpenter to become a dentist and remove somebody’s tooth? How?” he asked.
He declined to reveal the defence team’s strategy, saying its next steps would be determined internally.
“We will advise ourselves. We will not put our legal arsenals in public but we’ll advise ourselves. We know what to do,” he emphasised.
The lawyer was equally firm that the defence would not be forced to attend court against its position concerning the legal vacation.
“We will not be compelled to go to court, for Christ sake!” he stressed.
“This is not the first time we’ve had a Chief Justice, I’m afraid.”
The High Court on Tuesday adjourned the case to August 17 after the defence lawyers failed to appear.
Justice Francis Achibonga maintained that the warrant authorising him to sit during the legal vacation remained valid unless revoked by the Chief Justice.
However, the judge gave Adu-Boahene and his wife additional time to resolve the issue surrounding their legal representation, saying it would be unfair to immediately require them to cross-examine the witness without their lawyers present.
The court warned that if the lawyers failed to appear at the next sitting, the accused persons could be required to conduct the cross-examination themselves. If they are unable to do so, the fourth prosecution witness could be discharged.
