Justice Aboagye Tandoh has given assurance to three individuals, standing accused of causing financial loss to the state to the tune of GH¢217 in a cocoa deal, that every piece of evidence rejected by the previous judge on the case would be evaluated.

He said the court has the power to set aside evidence admitted in a trial during judgment, it can also do otherwise by evaluating what has been rejected.

The assurance follows a refusal to admit an investigator’s statement of Paul Agyei Gyan, first defense witness (DW1) of Seidu Agongo and Agricult Ghana Limited, second and third accused persons in the case.

The statement in question, is part of some 66 exhibits the defense find critical to their case, but were rejected by Justice Clemence Honyenuga, a retired justice of the Supreme Court performing additional duty at the High Court, during the ruling on submission of no case to answer.

Justice Aboagye barred the admission of the investigator’s statement on Tuesday while presiding over the suit at the Land Division of the Accra High Court.

Thus he upheld the objection raised by the Prosecution led Chief State Attorney (CSA) Evelyn Keelson when Benson Nutsukpui, counsel for Agongo and Agricult, attempted to retender the rejected statement of Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) investigator in the suit.

Attempts such as these had often resulted in fierce arguments between the Prosecution and defense team, due to the suo moto decision of the previous judge to reject admitted pieces of evidence that were not objected to by the Prosecution during tendering.

Lawyer Benson earlier named it judicial chicanery but failed to do so today although indicated that the actions of the judge is totally unacceptable.

“The new normal is that a document that has been rejected for a purpose, can be readmitted for another purpose. So my Lord, what we are saying is that the position of the prosecution is not the law,” he stated.

Samuel Codjoe, counsel for Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni (A1), also argued that a court seeking to do justice in a criminal matter is required to allow evidence and/or exhibit, which do not under any circumstance takes the prosecution by surprise, especially if it is exculpatory.

“This is an exculpatory evidence which this court has to admit. We will add further that there has never been any order from any court prohibiting admission of the rejected document by Honyenuga JSC who was sitting as an additional high court judge in the case,” he argued.

Dr Opuni is the former Chief Executive of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) from the year 2014 to 2016, whereas Seidu Agongo and Agricult Ghana Limited are the suppliers of lithovit, an agrochemical product, which is under contention.