part two of Osafo Buaben’s cross-examination of Tofic Mutata (PW4) on 2/11/2017
Q. Could you tell us when you received the call from Prime Witness (1)?
A. I received the call around 11:20pm.
Q. You said PW1 told you some substance had been poured on the deceased. Is that right?
A. That is so.
Q. Where was PW1 at the time she called you?
A. She did not specifically indicate but she told me to meet them at the hospital.
Q. In that conversation between you and PW1 she never mentioned anybody’s name.
A. When she called and told me that a substance was poured on the husband and that I should meet them at the hospital.
Q. Is it yes or no?
A. No. She did not mention anybody’s name.
Q. Before you got to the hospital on that day and at that time, did you receive any other call apart from the call by PW1?
A. No. I did not receive any other call.
Q. When you got to the hospital, was PW1 was already there.
A. Yes. she was there before I got there.
Q. You told the court that the deceased was wailing and his skin was peeling off. Is that right?
A. That is so. When I got to the hospital he was indeed wailing and the skin was peeling off.
Q. So you would agree with me that the deceased was in severe pain when you got to the hospital?
A. Yes. But he was able to signal me to come when he heard my voice. That was when he told me that it was the accused and Asabke who poured the substance on him.
Q. Where were you when he signalled you to come?
A. I was at the Emergency Ward with those who took him to the hospital while the deceased was lying on his sick bed, so I was close to him.
Q. Could you give us the distance between where you were and the bedside of the deceased?
A. It will not reach a metre.
Q. You saw him lying on the bed?
A. Yes.
Q. His face and neck was also peeling off?
A. Yes. His face was and body were peeling off.
Q. Because of the deceased’s condition, he could not speak and that is why at short distance he had to beckon you.
A. May be the court misunderstood me. What I said was that, he heard my voice and said, “has Tofic come” and he called me to his side.
Q. Whiles you were at the hospital, did the deceased engage in a conversation with the doctors who attended to him?
A. Yes. He was in the right frame of mind and the doctor asked him whether he knew where he was and he answered that, “yes I am at the Regional Hospital.”
Q. What about the nurses. Did he engage in any conversation with the nurses?
A. Yes. He did.
Q. How many doctors were attending to the deceased in your presence?
A. I cannot be specific on that because there were a lot of nurses and doctors who were attending to him. The one I can recall is the one who asked him to find out whether he knew where he was.
Q. Tofic, you told this Court that the police came to the hospital around 2:00am the following morning. Am I right?
A. I do not remember saying something like that. What I said was, the police got to the hospital around 1:00am and the accused was arrested around 2:00am.
Q. You told the court that the police came to the hospital because they told you they had heard of the incident?
A. Yes. That was what I said. Those policemen were night patrol team on duty.
Source:Lawyer Nana Yaw Osei
Details of the cross-examination of the witnesses in Late Adams Mahama's case
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