This week’s featured overall development as Newsmaker of the Week is the range of perspectives that has emerged from Jamaicans following Friday’s surprising news that the Judicial Committee of the UK Privy Council will deliver its highly anticipated judgment into the appeals of lawyers representing incarcerated dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel and his co-convicts on Thursday, March 14.
Jamaicans woke up to the news that the fifth and highest tier of the Jamaican court system had announced the date when a determination will be made on Kartel’s future.
The judgment is to be handed down at 11am (Jamaican time) on Thursday. Defence attorneys had previously indicated that they were expecting the judgment to be ready by June or late summer of this year.
Now the ‘guessing game’ is on in earnest as to what the likely outcome of the appeal will be, given that the judgment is to be delivered less than a month since the appeal hearing in the UK court over the course of two days in mid-February.
The documents that were submitted in the case were also said to be voluminous, though submitted months in advance of the February hearing.
Kartel, whose real name is Adidja Palmer, was convicted on March 13, 2014 — along with fellow appellants Shawn Campbell, Kahira Jones and Andre St John — of the murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams.
The Jamaican Court of Appeal dismissed their appeal against the convictions, and their cases are now in the hands of the Privy Council.
The Privy Council justices – Lord Reed, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Briggs, Lord Burrows, and Lady Simler – are to consider the validity of the telephone evidence that was used to convict the men, and whether it breached their constitutional rights; whether the attempted bribery scenario compromised the trial when the juror in question was allowed to remain on the panel of 11 jurors; and whether the then trial judge, Justice Lennox Campbell (now retired), handled the deliberations relative to the bribery attempt properly.
The court is also to determine whether the trial judge was wrong to invite the jury to reach a verdict late in the day, given the special circumstances of the case.
But, the two-day hearing largely centred around the jury issues, in particular the likely effect that keeping the juror accused and later convicted of attempting to bribe the others, could have had on the overall panel.
During the trial in Jamaica, the judge became aware of an allegation that a juror had attempted to bride others by offering $500,000 for a particular outcome of the case.
After investigating the allegation and considering it with counsel for both the prosecution and the defence, the judge decided that the trial should proceed. He did not discharge the jury, or the particular juror who was said to have offered the bribes.
In reacting to the announced date of the delivery of the judgment, one of the attorneys in the appeal case, Bert Samuels, said if the UK-based court sends the case back to the Jamaican Appeal Court to consider a retrial, the defence will strongly oppose such a move.
Speaking in a radio interview on Friday, he said, in his view, several factors would go against a retrial being ordered, as the men have already spent nearly 13 years in custody.
Among the factors he cited that opposed a retrial were the availability of witnesses; the pre-trial prejudice of the voice notes that were used in the case being released to the public domain; and difficulties in “finding a jury which has not been influenced by what they have heard in the media” relative to the case.
When contacted for comment by reporters, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn said she would not comment on the matter. However, she said she would not be travelling to the UK as she did during last month’s two-day hearing there.
On social media, there were interesting reactions from Jamaicans to Kartel and his three co-accused being about to learn their fates within a matter of days.
“Only road him (Kartel) a walk a from (him) cell block to out di yaad, den back to the cell,” a male Instagram user commented.
“He (Kartel) needs to be out (of prison)… We need good music now,” another user said.
“If second chances is such a thing, where is Clive (Lizard Williams’) second chance of life?” a man asked.
He added: “Imagine being murder(ed) and society thinking your killer is more important in society than you.”
On Facebook, a man commented that, “My initial assessment was and still is –they (UK Privy Council) won’t set him (Kartel) free, but remand the case to the lower court for consideration of a new trial.
“However, the speed in which the Privy Court is going about it is telling. Often when a higher court rules swiftly in matters like this, they are not on the side of the Government, but the appellant. They often do that when they discover a great injustice,” he claimed.
The Facebook user further opined that, “Based on the Jury Act, I don’t see where the trial judge made a mistake in allowing the so-called tainted juror to remain on (the jury), so like everyone, I too have to wait until they release their finding(s).”
Commented a woman on the case: “Well Kartel, only time can tell what will happen on Thursday, but all mi know Jamaica pause dat day fi hear.”
Shared another: “This ruling quick sah. Mi nervous ’cause this nuh look good.”
Meanwhile, another woman on Facebook said she was confident that Kartel and his co-convicts would finally experience “true justice”, based on the speed of the judgment.
“World Boss (Kartel) and (Shawn) Storm get true justice man. Me feel it say dem ago walk free, free. Road! Can’t wait fi go a Kartel concert,” she said.
However, a man had a warning for the Facebook user.
“When next Thursday come, nuff a unuh a go shock when the metal bars remain shut,” he stated.
