The retrial hearing for determining whether murder accused Vybz Kartel and his co-accused will be retried or released began on Monday, with judges setting the tone for the five-day hearing in Kingston.
According to reports from the courtroom by the Jamaica Gleaner and Nationwide News Network, Court of Appeal Judge Marva McDonald-Bishop immediately warned bloggers and members of the media that those who breach the rules of the court and publish incendiary reports that will be prejudicial to the accused will be charged with contempt of court.
Vybz Kartel, Shawn Campbell, Kahira Jones, and St. John are represented by attorneys Isat Buchanan, John Clarke, and Bert Samuels.
During arguments, Samuels, who is representing Campbell, made arguments and provided an affidavit by the dancehall artist who claims that a fair retrial is impossible because of the impact of bloggers like Sir P. Sir P is a well-known YouTuber who regularly comments on crime and claims to have inside information on many personalities on his show Politricks Watch. He has also covered the Vybz Kartel trial extensively, which Campbell argues will likely cause prejudice to him if a new trial is ordered.
If a new trial takes place, the lawyers argue not only is public perception of the matter impacted, but it may be difficult to find jurors unaffected by the negative perception painted by the show.
Despite Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Claudette Thompson raising a procedural point that the affidavits should not have arguments and pleadings, Justice McDonald Bishop allowed the affidavit.
That might have been a win for the accused. However, the judge did not allow an affidavit regarding Kartel’s medical condition.
Over the weekend, Kartel’s oldest son, Adidjah Palmer Jr., also called Likkle Vybz, spoke about his father’s medical condition, describing him as gravely ill and needing surgery.
Similar claims were made in an affidavit that the artist was too sick to stand retrial. The affidavit, attested to by Likkle Vybz, spoke about the impact of Kartel’s being in jail for more than a decade and how it has affected his health and his family. However, the judge struck out the parts of the affidavit because they were hearsay evidence, as Likkle Vybz could not personally testify to the claims made in the affidavit.
Similarly, he could also not testify to his father’s medical condition as he was not qualified to offer a medical opinion.
The hearing by Justices Marva McDonald-Bishop, Paulette Williams, and David Fraser continues.
In the meantime, the mysterious personally known as Sir P has since responded to Shawn Storm’s legal team naming him in court documents. “Surely they not saying that the learned judge is relying on YouTube videos to make decisions,” Sir P said in a video on YouTube.
He added, “Are they saying that the likkle YouTuber and the PIA movement is now mightier than every deejay, every influencer, every vlogger, combined?”
