Privy Council Quashes Legend’s Conviction for Murder
Yesterday the Privy Council quashed the murder conviction of the internationally acclaimed Jamaican dance hall legend Vybz Kartel (Adidja Palmer). Kartel, who gained worldwide fame for hits including Romping Shop, Dancehall Hero and Summer Time was convicted of the murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams in 2014 with 3 others. Kartel was represented by Doughty Street’s David Hislop KC both before the Jamaican Court of Appeal and the Privy Council.
Before the Privy Council the court heard how during the original 64 day trial a juror had attempted to bribe fellow jurors to return not guilty verdicts. The forewoman of the jury carried out her own investigations of the attempted bribery, recording conversations with the miscreant juror and in one instance having other jurors lock the miscreant juror out of the jury room. When these matters were finally reported to the trial judge, the trial judge refused to discharge the jury or the miscreant jury. Once guilty verdicts were returned the miscreant juror was arrested whilst still in the jury room and subsequently convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice. There was no evidence that any of the defendants were complicit in the bribery attempts.
The Privy Council found that the attempted bribery of jurors should have left the judge with no option other than to discharge the jury. The judge’s failure to do so rendered the trial unfair and the convictions for murder unsafe. Kartel and his co-defendants have been in prison for 12 years following conviction. The Privy Council have remitted the case back to the Jamaican Court of Appeal to decide whether there should be a retrial or not.
