No retrial for Vybz Kartel as the Jamaica Court of Appeal has acquitted the deejay real name Adidja Azim Palmer and his three co-accused—Shawn Storm Campbell, Kahira Jones, and Andre St. John— for the 2011 murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams.
The ruling was announced at 2 p.m. on Wednesday (July 31, 2024), a day before Jamaica celebrates Emancipation Day on August 1. It follows a hearing by a three-judge panel of the Jamaica Court of Appeal just over a month ago.
There was no crowd when the announcement was made in court, but as soon as the verdict was handed down, people rushed police barricades towards Supreme Court In Kingston Jamaica to greet Kartel’s lawyer is at Buchanan.
The judgment handed down for Kartel to walk free was delivered by newly appointed President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Marva McDonald Bishop, with Justices Paulette Williams and David Fraser.
The UK’s Privy Council had overturned the men’s 2014 murder convictions in March and directed the local Court of Appeal to decide on the possibility of a retrial.
The Jamaican government has spent approximately J$36.2 million on a British legal team for the appeal of Vybz Kartel and his co-accused, who were convicted of murder in 2014. The UK’s Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) quashed their convictions in March 2024, citing jury tampering that affected their constitutional rights. The Jamaican government was ordered to cover the appellants’ legal costs, totaling over £670,000 according to sources in Vybz Kartel’s camp. If the case was retried, it would have costed taxpayers an additional $150 million according to sources.
The trial faced issues with telecom evidence and jury tampering, leading to scrutiny of the judicial process’s integrity.
Today’s verdict brings to a close Kartel’s legal troubles that started when he was arrested in Jamaica on September 29, 2011, at New Kingston hotel initially for possession of ganja. On October 3, while in custody, he faced additional charges including murder, conspiracy to murder, and illegal possession of a firearm related to the killing of businessman Barrington Burton. He was denied bail on October 4.
Hewas granted bail on March 23, 2012, for J$3 million but remained in jail due to a second murder charge involving Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams. The trial for Burton’s murder was postponed and eventually, on July 24, 2013, Kartel was found not guilty.
However, on March 13, 2014, Kartel and his co-accused were convicted of Williams’ murder, alleged to have occurred at Kartel’s Havendale house in August 2011. The prosecution’s case relied heavily on telecommunications evidence, which the defense contested due to privacy breaches and procedural issues. Allegations of jury tampering also surfaced during the trial, but the judge proceeded without discharging the jury.
Kartel and his co-accused appealed the conviction, but it was dismissed on April 3, 2020. His parole eligibility was reduced from 35 to 32 years.
The 48, year old deejay has managed be remain a newsworthy dancehall artist with over a billion streams on Spotify since his arrest. He is the only artist in Jamaica’s history to sell Gold in the U.S. while behind bars.
