Dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel along with his co-appellants Shawn ‘Storm’ Campbell, Andrew St. John, and Kahira Jones, have been given three provisional dates for the hearing of their appeal at the Privy Council, Jamaica’s highest court of appeal located in England.
On Wednesday, Shawn Campbell’s attorney, Bert Samuels, told Urban Islandz that the provisional hearing is welcomed by the appellants, who have been incarcerated for almost a decade.
“The Privy Council on Monday of this week set down the appeal for Shawn Campbell, Vybz Kartel, and two other appellants for the hearing on the 16, 17th, and 18th of April 2024. The case is provisionally set for that date meaning that it is subject to change,” he told Urban Islandz.
Mr. Samuels also went on to express that he and his client are hoping that the date is not changed.
“We are hoping to have the trial in another nine (9) months and the matter can be put at rest. The appellants have been in custody for over a decade and they’re dying to have closure to his matter.”
He continued, “We are looking forward to victory because there are very interesting points of law raised in this appeal, one of which has to do with jury management and how a judge should manage the jury with respect to a lengthy trial, and the amount of time given to retire and with respect to complaints about jury tampering.
“We anxiously await their [Privy Council’s] deliberation,” he added.
Urban Islandz reached out to the attorney for Vybz Kartel, Isat Buchanan, for a comment.
The latest news comes after many efforts by the appellants to reverse the conviction for the murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams, who was allegedly killed by Kartel and the co-appellants.
Kartel is serving a 35-year to life in prison sentence, while Campbell, Jones, and St John were ordered to serve 25 years each before being eligible for parole.
All of the men had 2.5 years shaved off of their original sentence after the Appeal Court following arguments raised by their lawyers that they were prejudiced when the presiding judge chose to carry on with the trial after one of the jurors was accused of attempting to bribe the foreman with $500,000.
That juror, Livingston Caine, was found guilty of the charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice last December, and he was sentenced in March to nine (9) months in prison.
