BASSETERRE, St. Kitts -- IN a judgment delivered today (Mar. 14), the Privy Council quashed the conviction of incarcerated dancehall superstar Vybz Kartel and several of his co-conspirators who were sentenced for murder.
Kartel, whose real name is Adidja Azim Palmer, was charged and convicted along with Shawn Campbell, Kahira Jones, and Andre St John on March 13, 2014.
In its judgment, the Privy Council reasoned, “The judicial committee of the Privy Council has unanimously concluded that the appeals should be allowed and the appellants' convictions should be quashed on the grounds of juror misconduct. The case should be remitted to the Court of Appeal to decide whether to order a retrial.”
The British-based court pointed to several reasons within its judgment for its decision, including the damning evidence presented by the prosecution in court.
“Section 14(2) of the Judicature (Appellate Jurisdiction) Act permits a retrial where a conviction is quashed if that is in the interests of justice. The Board proposes to follow its usual practice of remitting to the local courts the question of whether a retrial should be ordered,” the Privy Council noted.
The parties appeared before the Privy Council last month to appeal the life sentence, along with several pieces of telecommunication evidence that they believed should have remained private.
