The 50-year-old Pastor of the 12 Apostles Church, accused of defiling a four-year-old girl at Asuokaw in the Eastern Region, which later led to her death, was intoxicated at the time of the incident, his lawyer has said.
The lawyer has therefore argued that he should be charged with manslaughter and not murder.
The pastor, Isaac Bowe Gyasi, allegedly lured the girl to his bathroom before allegedly defiling the deceased.
He has been charged with murder and has been remanded into custody by an Accra High Court.
According to state prosecutors, the incident led to the untimely death of the girl.
His lawyer, David Owusu Tachie, put up a defence in his application for bail via a Justice For All Virtual Court session on Friday (July 22, 2022).
The lawyer argued that his client, who had been behind bars since 2018, was intoxicated at the time of the incident and the charge of murder could be reduced to manslaughter.
Counsel, therefore, prayed the court, and presided over by Justice Clemence Honyenuga, a Justice of Supreme Court sitting as an additional High Court judge, to grant the accused bail.