Vybz Kartel and his legal team are now hoping to hear in the next few weeks that they will be granted leave to go to the Privy Council in the United Kingdom.
The incarcerated Dancehall superstar and his co-convicts Shawn ‘Shawn Storm’ Campbell, Kahira Jones and Andre St John are seeking to have their 2014 murder conviction overturned.
Shortly after the three-member panel of the Court of Appeal upheld the men’s sentences on April 3 this year, an official application was filed on behalf of Kartel and his three co-convicts to get leave to go to the Privy Council with the matter.
Vybz Kartel for this journey of his trial, is being represented by Isat Buchanan, while Bianca Samuels represents Campbell, and John Clarke bats for Jones and St John.
Isat Buchanan said they are now waiting to hear a decision from the Appeal Court after they recently reserved the judgement.
According to Attorney-at-law, the wait could take up to two weeks however the time frame remains uncertain, referencing the nearly two-year delay on Vybz Kartel’s first judgement from the Appeal Court.
The human rights attorney says he is he is confident that Vybz Kartel, whose given name is Adidja Palmer and his co-convicts will have their case heard before the Privy Council.
“I believe in the Jamaican constitution. The Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms (Constitutional Amendment) Act, 2011, is revolutionary in upholding human rights,” he told The Jamaica Star. He added that Jamaican drafters of the charter, thought it necessary to include such items as the right to privacy and fair trial.
Vybz Kartel and his co-convicts Shawn ‘Shawn Storm’ Campbell, Kahira Jones and Andre St John were given life sentences in March 2014 for the 2011 murder of their associate, Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams. All four denied the allegations but were convicted by a jury during a 17-week trial.
Following their appeal, the court admitted that an oversight had been made during sentencing by Justice Campbell during the original trial. The sentences were reduced based on time already served.
Kartel’s original 35 years was reduced to 32 and a half years minimum before becoming eligible for parole.
Campbell and Johns’s sentences were revised downward to 22 years and six months, while St John’s new sentence was calculated to be 27 years and six months.
