Buju Banton Trial: U.S. Appeal Court Approves His Request

Embattled reggae/dancehall star Buju Banton was granted new light into his ongoing fight for freedom.

According to reports, the U.S. court of appeal has approved Buju Banton’s request for a hearing for a new trial.

SEE ALSO: Buju Banton Acquire New Attorney Charles Ogletree, Seeking New Trial

Banton’s legal team headed by Harvard Law School professor, Charles Ogletree, submitted legal docs in May requesting a new trial for the reggae entertainer.

In his 55-page court document, Charles Ogletree outlined numerous problems with the case that led to a conviction in 2011 and there are a lot of problems.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta agreed that there were many problems with the case and granted the singer’s lawyers a chance to make an oral submission.

In a statement sent to Urban Islandz, Buju Banton Defense Support Committee says the approval was granted on Monday.

Read the full statement below:

“In May 2014 the Defense Team for Jamaican Reggae Superstar, Buju Banton, filed an appeal to the U.S. Appellate Court requesting the artiste be granted oral arguments and a new trial. Buju’s attorney, Professor Charles Ogletree, submitted a compact and powerful document detailing Buju Banton’s innocence. The Court has responded favourably by granting approval to the oral arguments.

The brief states that Buju Banton was entrapped by a paid informant in December 2009. It gives clear evidence that the foreperson of the jury, Mrs. Terri Wright, acted against the District Court’s instructions by researching information on the case during the trial and that Mrs. Wright further presented the Court with the wrong computer hard drive on which she did her research.”

Buju Banton, who real name is Mark Myrie, was convicted on three counts of drug trafficking charges in February, 2011.

He was sentenced to 10 years in a Federal prison and is currently serving his sentence in South Florida.

But his legal team argued that there were far too many problems with the case to convict the Grammy-winning singer.

First off, the government prosecution team used a paid informant to trap the reggae singer into a deal to buy and distribute cocaine.

Secondly, after the conviction news surfaced that one of the jurors involved in the trial admitted that she research aspects of the case during the trial.

Judge James Moody back then called for a special hearing to investigate juror Teri Wright who was found in contempt of court, but yet still Buju Banton remains behind bars.

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