The Adjudication of Homicide in Colonial Ghana
The Impact of the Knowles Murder Case
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8980650 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Roger Gocking (0000-0002-4259-4383, Mercy University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 85-104 |
| Publication date | 2011-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of African History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-8537 • E-ISSN: 1469-5138 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0021853711000089 |
| OpenAlex | W2117182640 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 7 |
In keeping with the law in place in the Colony of Ashanti in 1928, Dr Benjamin Knowles was tried and convicted for the murder of his wife without the benefit of a jury trial or the assistance of legal counsel. His trial and sentencing to death created outrage in both colonial Ghana and the metropole, and placed a spotlight on the adjudication of capital crimes in the colony. Inevitably, there were calls for reform of a system that could condemn an English government official to death without the benefit of the right to trial by a jury of his peers and counsel of his choice. Shortly after the Knowles trial, the colonial government did open up Ashanti to lawyers, and introduced other changes in the administration of criminal justice, but continued to refuse the introduction of jury trial. Nevertheless, the lasting impact of the Knowles trial was to make criminal adjudication in Ashanti, if anything, more lenient than the other area of colonial Ghana, the Gold Coast Colony
Adjudication · Colonialism · Criminology · Government (linguistics · Homicide · Jury · Jury trial · Outrage · Poison control · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Suicide prevention · Wife · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Criminal Law and Evidence · History · Law · Medicine
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,29 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2026 (15) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |