The United Kingdom Privy Council has ruled that the conviction of Vybz Kartel and his co-appellants Shawn ‘Shawn Storm’ Campbell, Kahira Jones, and Andre St John should be quashed. The matter has been remitted to the court of appeal for a decision on whether there will be a retrial.
As of now, Vybz Kartel will remain in jail until his attorney makes an application for bail pending the retrial. Whether the appellants will be re-tried will also depend on the court’s decision on whether the trial is feasible after ten years.
The judgment was read by the Hon. Lord Lloyd-Jones, who read out a summary of the reasons for the panel’s decision.
The Appellants Adidja Palmer, otherwise called Vybz Kartel, Shawn Campbell, also named Shawn Storm, Andre St. John, and Kahira Jones, brought their appeal to the Privy Council almost ten years after they were first convicted in 2014.
They were convicted for the murder of Clive Williams on August 16, 2011, for allegedly failing to return two unlicensed firearms to Kartel. The guns were given to Williams reportedly for “safekeeping”.
The high-profile trial was mired by controversy with reports of a juror attempting to bribe the forewoman and others.
The juror who offered $500,000 to the forewoman, Livingston Caine, was arrested and charged, and last year, he was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment at hard labor for the offense.
