Jamaica’s Court docket of Attraction has ordered the discharge of dancehall artist Vybz Kartel and his three co-accused for the 2011 homicide of Clive “Lizard” Williams.
The choice of the court docket was unanimous, mentioned the President of the Court docket Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop.
She mentioned there have been 12 components on which the judges primarily based their resolution, together with the seriousness of the crime, the energy of the prosecution’s case, the provision of witnesses, whether or not a retrial will be facilitated inside an affordable time, and the price of the retrial.
She mentioned the toll {that a} retrial would tackle the appellants, who’ve already spent 13 years in custody, was additionally an element of their resolution.
“The pursuits of justice don’t require a brand new trial to be ordered for the appellants,” she mentioned.
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Justice McDonald-Bishop led the panel of three judges deliberating the case, alongside Justices Paulette Williams and David Fraser.
In June, the Court docket of Attraction heard six days of intensive authorized arguments from each the protection and the prosecution. Protection lawyer Isat Buchanan argued that an acquittal is critical to stop additional constitutional breaches in opposition to Vybz Kartel and his three co-accused. Buchanan contended that the prosecution has not addressed how they’ll mitigate these breaches, stating, “The uncertainty of sustaining or persevering with the breach elevates the breach.”
Conversely, Performing Director of Public Prosecutions Claudette Thompson argued that Vybz Kartel and his co-accused shouldn’t escape justice on a technicality. Given the seriousness of the offense, the energy of the case, the general public curiosity, and the provision of witnesses, Thompson asserted {that a} retrial is justified. She maintained that the ordeal suffered by the accused just isn’t enough motive to keep away from a retrial.
Adidja Palmer, referred to as Vybz Kartel, together with Shawn ‘Shawn Storm’ Campbell, Kahira Jones, and Andre St John, had been charged with the homicide of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams in September 2011. The 4 had been convicted in March 2014 and sentenced to life in jail the next month. Their convictions had been upheld by the Court docket of Attraction in 2020.
Nonetheless, on March 14, 2024, the UK-based Privy Council, Jamaica’s highest court docket of attraction, overturned these convictions on account of juror misconduct. The trial decide had did not dismiss juror Livingston Cain, who was later discovered responsible of accepting a bribe to affect the jury. Regardless of overturning the convictions, the Privy Council didn’t free the boys, as an alternative mandating the Court docket of Attraction to resolve whether or not a retrial was crucial.
Kartel and his co-accused preserve their innocence.
Background studying: To release or retry? Vybz Kartel retrial hearing begins
