The Privy Council appeal hearing of Jamaican dancehall star Vybz Kartel and his three co-accused began on Wednesday in London, with the appellants’ lawyers highlighting attempts to bribe the trial jury and the use of incriminating messages as reasons their convictions should not stand.
Kartel, along with his co-defendants, Shawn Campbell (also known as Shawn Storm), Kahira Jones, and Andre St John, have been in jail in Jamaica since 2011. They were found guilty of the 2011 murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams.
Kartel was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2014 with a minimum of 35 years, later reduced on appeal to 32-and-a-half.
The issue in this appeal is whether the men’s convictions are safe in light of the following grounds of challenge:
* Should the trial judge have excluded the telecommunications evidence relied on by the prosecution?
* How should the judge have handled the allegations that there were attempts to bribe members of the jury during the trial? Should the jury (or the particular juror said to have offered the bribes) have been discharged?
* Was the judge wrong to invite the jury to reach a verdict late in the day, given the special circumstances of the case?
Arguments from lawyers
On Wednesday, British law lords heard submissions from King’s Counsel Hugh Southey, who is representing Jones and St John, and Isat Buchanan, representing Vybz Kartel.
Southey’s arguments primarily centered around potential breaches of the Charter of Rights in relation to telecommunications evidence, and issues of jury tampering.
During the trial in 2014, the appellants challenged the admissibility of phone evidence, arguing that its acquisition violated the Interception of Communications Act and infringed upon the fundamental right to privacy of communication as guaranteed by the Jamaican Constitution. However, the trial judge deemed the telecommunications evidence admissible.
During the 64-day trial, the judge was also alerted to an allegation that a juror had attempted to bribe others by offering $500,000 JMD for a specific verdict. After investigating the allegation and consulting with counsel for both the prosecution and defense, the judge opted to continue the trial without dismissing the jury or the implicated juror.
Southey pointed out that since the juror, Livingston Caine, was found guilty on a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice, he could not have been relied on to follow the directives of the judge in the case. He said Caine’s conviction ultimately stains the verdict in the Vybz Kartel case.
He stated that when the issue was brought up during the trial, Caine should have been dismissed. He noted that if Caine had not been allowed to continue, the entire jury would have had to be dismissed and the trial would have to be restarted since one juror had already been discharged.
Southey argued that while the restart of the trial would have been an issue given the fact that the trial had already been lengthy, “If that’s what’s required, that’s what’s required.”
Law lords seemingly agreed that the trial judge should not have side-stepped the provision of discharging a juror where there is sufficient basis to discharge them (i.e. being found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice).
But lawyers representing Jamaican prosecutors said the trial judge was right to allow the messages into evidence and in how he dealt with the jury.
“The evidence in the case against all the appellants was overwhelming, in particular in the case of Mr. Palmer,” Peter Knox said in court filings.
He added: “Even if there were irregularities in the trial, they did not result in a serious miscarriage of justice.” He noted that even if there was one juror who was bribed, there were an additional 10 jurors who came in with a guilty verdict.
The appeal hearing continues on February 15. The appeal judges are Lord Reed, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Briggs, Lord Burrows, and Lady Simler.
Read more: Vybz Kartel Privy Council hearing to be streamed live
