 Cases were first heard by a headman; from there a defendant could appeal to the district sub-chief, then to the royal court, and finally to the chief, queen mother, and council of elders.If a person were found guilty of murder, the murderer was ordered to give a man (or woman, if a woman had been killed) to the family of the murdered person.If there was no one to give, the murderer was told to choose between death and becoming a slave to the murdered person's family.