A Judge declined to hear new evidence for Vybz Kartel’s appeal.
The submissions were made on Thursday in the Court of Appeal for the copy of the eyewitness statement to be accepted as part of the fresh evidence, but that the judge ruled the issue was a matter for a three-judge court to decide.
Lawyers representing the self-proclaimed ‘World Boss’ and his co-accused, Shawn “Storm” Campbell, Andre St John, and Kahira Jones were back in court for their final case management hearing ahead of the July 9th appeal trial.
Vybz Kartel’s legal team will now have to wait until the first hearing on their appeal to introduce fresh evidence to build their case to have the conviction overturn.
“We went before the president of the Court of Appeal this morning [Thursday] and pursuant to an order made by him that we should make the fresh evidence application at a later date,” Defence attorney Bert Samuels said. “Last month the application came before him he rightly pointed out, the president, that this application should be made to a court, a court which in the Court of Appeal means three judges. Therefore, the application was further put off to be heard on the 9th of July, the first day of the hearing of the appeal, and therefore we look forward to making the application to the full three-man court.”
Vybz Kartel, whose given name Adidja Palmer, and his co-accused Campbell, Kahira St Jones, and Andre St John, were convicted in 2014 for the murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams and given life sentences.
Kartel will be eligible for parole after serving 35 years while Campbell and Jones will have to serve 25 years each before being eligible for parole. St John will do 30 years before being considered for parole.
The convicts were granted leave to appeal their murder conviction after citing several reasons, including claims that they did not receive a fair trial and that justice was miscarried in their cases, as well as that the trial judge, Justice Lennox Campbell, had erred in admitting contaminated cellphone evidence and that there was more than reasonable doubt about the phone’s integrity.
Source: The Tropixs
