Attorneys for world renowned Dance Hall artiste Vybz Kartel have moved to the courts seeking his release in the wake of a recent British Privy Council ruling that had quashed his original murder conviction because of juror misconduct.
The application was filed in the court system on Monday for Adidja Palmer and two of his three co-accused Shawn Campbell and Andre St. John. The third man, Kahira Jones has not been named in the application for release because he has another matter engaging the judiciary.
The application to allow Kartel and the two others to roam freely and even record or perform until the local court system decides whether to retry him for the 2011 murder of associate Clive Williams for failing to return weapons he had entrusted Williams with for safe keeping. Kartel and the three were convicted in 2014 and given life sentences.
In March, The Privy Council quashed his murder conviction and sent the case back to the local judiciary to decide whether to retry the case because of juror misconduct during the trial. The first hearing is set for June 10. No date has been set for the latest application before the courts. The hearings as to whether he will be freed or retired will last for five days and attorneys from both sides had up to last week to submit skeleton outlines of their arguments to the court.
The ruling by the British law lords has helped to reignite a simmering debate in Jamaica as to whether the island should switch to the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as the judges had ruled that the entire jury should have been discharged in the case because of misconduct. Kartel’s legion of fans worldwide are hoping that the courts free rather than retry him, allowing him to resume his career as a top performer.
