Vybz Kartel gets a lifeline

In a case that was followed globally and one which had made world headlines, Jamaican Dancehall star, Vybz Kartel had his murder conviction quashed by Jamaica’s final court in London on Thursday but it does not mean that he will walk free as thousands of his loyal supporters had anticipated.

The Privy Council ruled that the local judge who had heard the case back in 2014 when Adidja “Vybz Kartel” Palmer and co-accused Shawn “Shawn Storm” Campbell, Kahira Jones, and Andre St. John were convicted should have quashed the case and ordered a retrial because there was clear evidence of jury tampering and bribery involving one of the 12 adjudicators in the case. The three were charged back in 2011 for the murder of Kartel associate Clive “Lizard” Williams in a row over the delayed return of two unlicensed pistols Palmer had given him for safe keeping.

Many Jamaicans were glued to social media sites as the panel read the ruling, thinking that the court would have freed the “Worl’ Boss.” Instead, the panel sent the case back to the Jamaican appeals court for retrial or determination as it sees fit. During the hearings, the local trial judge did not dispute allegations of bribery of one of the 12 jurors but had ruled instead that the case with its overwhelming evidence could have proceeded lawfully with 11 panel members as it did, resulting in a life sentence for Kartel.

The trial had lasted all of 64 days and had generated tremendous interest throughout the Caribbean and among Dance Hall lovers worldwide. The Privy Council said that while it had understood the mindset of the trial judge, the bribery issue should have been dealt with condignly.

“While the board has considerable sympathy with the judge’s dilemma, it considers that the course followed by the judge was a material irregularity in the course of the trial giving rise to a miscarriage of justice within section 14(1) of the judicature (appellate jurisdiction) act. The judge was placed in an unenviable position. This had come to light only on the 64th and final day of a long and complex trial. He had already lost one juror. He could not discharge Juror X and continue with 10 jurors because section 31 of the Jury Act provided that a murder trial could not proceed with fewer than 11 jurors. He had either to continue with those 11 jurors or to discharge the jury. He decided to continue with the 11 jurors and to give them a further direction as to their function in the trial,” the judges noted.

As Jamaicans waited for the word free or discharged to be used, the panel noted that “while the board has considerable sympathy with the judge’s dilemma, it considers that the course followed by the judge was a material irregularity in the course of the trial giving rise to a miscarriage of justice.”

Kartel has already spent a decade in prison. If he is not freed, made to endure a retrial and convicted again, he could end up spending another 20 years in prison in keeping with his original sentence if not reduced in a new trial. He is also known to have a few medical issues in prison. Despite him not being freed, locals celebrated the ruling as it gave them hope when there was none before the appeal.

“Well, we feel pleased to see that go on. It quash, and I am very happy because dem see that a good youth dem put away,” said entertained John Paul, aka Gaza Legend. “After today, mi nuh trust the Jamaican justice system. How can you convict a man with a corrupt juror? One juror is corrupt, so I am very happy with the UK system, and it should stay in place, no change,” the Gleaner quoted him as saying.

Fox 5 News in the US quoted Kartel as saying that “I am confident that the court of appeal in Jamaica will do the right thing in the name of equity, fairness and justice and free us. Some people have expressed their concern to me that a retrial may be ordered but to them I say albeit with my limited knowledge of the law ‘what is there to retry’? I feel victorious in this very moment as the Privy Council in their infinite wisdom, understood the assignment and remedied the situation by quashing my conviction. I am now back to being an innocent man in the eyes of the law. A grave injustice was done to me and my co-accused in the original trial and my cries were heard in the land’s highest court.”

Prosecutors had relied on evidence from the mobile telephones of Kartel and his co-accused detailing the plan to wipe out Williams.