A member of the NDC’s legal team, Abraham Amaliba, has kicked against a directive by the Supreme Court on how counsel representing President Mahama in court should go about cross examining Dr. Bawumia over ‘duplication’ of pink sheets, asserting that such a move is equal to providing the witness with answers(apor) before he mounted the witness box.
In a letter signed by Justice William Atuguba and dated on 19th April 2013, the court clearly gave out a guide line on how counsel for the 1st respondent should tend in evidence as a way of expediting the hearing of the petition.
But in an interview granted to Okay FM by Lawyer Amaliba, he posited inasmuch as they are not against the speedy trial of the case; they are against the directive by the court to aid Dr. Bawumia with pink sheets they have faulted. He continued that if they were to abide by the directive of the Supreme Court, the essence of cross examining a witness would be lost.
According to him, the essence of cross examining is to surprise a witness, test the veracity of the witness and to expose the inconsistencies in the witness’s evidence.
“If we are to give our documents to Bawumia and he sits in his house sipping tea and discussing it to get answers, where would the element of surprise be?” he asked in accordance to the essence of cross examining a witness.
“We are not against the expeditious trial but we are against that aspect that says that we should hand over our pink sheets”, he said.