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It was a big win today for dancehall star Adidja ‘Vybz Kartel’ Palmer and his co-accused ‘Storm’ Campbell, and two others as the Privy Council ruled in their favor overturning their convictions.
The UK-based Privy Council, the highest tier of the court system in Jamaica, handed down their decision on Thursday to have the convictions quashed based on the arguments presented last month.
The four men presented their case on February 14 and 15 focusing on whether trial judge Lennox Campbell should have allowed telecommunication evidence, which was obtained in a manner that allegedly breached Palmer’s constitutional rights to privacy, into the trial.
“The judicial committee of the Privy Council has unanimously concluded that the appeals should be allowed, and the appellants’ convictions should be quashed on the grounds of juror misconduct and that the case should be remitted to the Court of Appeal to decide whether to order a retrial of the appellants for the murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams,” the Privy Council stated.
Prosecutors had relied on cell phone records and testimony from Lamar “Wee” Chow, the sole eyewitness, who said that Lizard was killed at Kartel’s home in Havendale, St Andrew, in August 2011.
After a 64-day trial in the Kingston Home Circuit Court, the longest in Jamaica’s history, the men were sentenced to life in prison in April 2014. Subsequently, in April 2020, the Jamaica Court of Appeal upheld the conviction but reduced their parole eligibility by two and a half years each.
They were then allowed to appeal to the UK-based Privy Council because crucial cellular evidence was improperly obtained, the jury was tainted after a bribery attempt, and the original trial judge, Justice Lennox Campbell, placed undue pressure on the jury to reach a verdict.
On Thursday, the Privy Council judges—Lord Reed, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Briggs, Lord Burrows, and Lady Simler—were unanimous in deciding that the appeal should be allowed, and that the conviction was unsafe and should be squashed.
This means the matter will now go back to Jamaica’s Court of Appeal, which will determine whether a retrial should be held.
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