AFTER almost 13 years in custody Kartel urges Jamaican youth to ‘stay out of crime’ as he walks free
Walking out of the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre Wednesday evening, after spending more than 12 years behind bars, dancehall superstar Adidja “Vybz Kartel” Palmer described his time spent in custody as “hell” in response to a question from the Jamaica Observer.

Amidst pandemonium created by the scores of screaming fans of the entertainer outside the prison, Palmer said, “One thing mi a tell di youths dem, a stay outta crime”.
He was then whisked away in a white limousine without further comment.

In 2014, Palmer was sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole after 35 years. He was sentenced along with then co-accused Shawn “Shawn Storm” Campbell, Kahira Jones and Andre St John for the 2011 murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams.

The other men also received life sentences with Campbell and Jones sentenced to serve 25 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole, while St John would have had to serve 30 years before the possibility of parole.
However, on March 14, the London-based Privy Counsel overturned the convictions on the grounds of jury misconduct and sent the matter back to the Court of Appeal in Jamaica to decide if the case should be retried or the men released.

On Wednesday a panel of judges led by recently apponted president of the Court of Appeal Marva McDonald Bishop, and including justices Paulette Williams and David Fraser, said they considered 12 factors in arriving at the decision not to retry the men.

The factors included the absence of evidence, the absence of defence witnesses, the absence of prosecution witnesss, the physical, psychological and emotional health of Palmer, and the possibility that Campbell and Jones would get more time if a new trial was ordered.
The Court of Appeal also noted that the estimation was that it would take 15 years before the matter would go for a retrial.
Members of the legal team which represented the four men — Isat Buchanan, John Clarke, Alessandra Labeach and Iqbal Cheverria —were ecstatic following the ruling.
Buchanan said that he was happy for the verdict and pointed out that although some fixing is needed in the justice system, the constitution worked. He thanked the other members of the team for the hard work they put into the case.
“It was a long fight,” said Buchanan.

“If you listened to the judges in terms of how they laid out the facts, they had nothing to do with jury tampering and there was no evidence of anything in relation to tampering of evidence. I can now say clearly that the men are innocent and anybody wants to challenge that, then that is just on them. They can believe what they want,” said Buchanan

“If we respect the constitution, that is what matters and that is the conversation we ought to have because there is a lot of change that needs to come including the start of an innocence project because the idea that persons can gamble with the constitution and the liberty of people is something we ought to be very afraid of,” added Buchanan
In the meantime, Clarke said that the Court of Appeal must be commended for its decision.

“You have to bear in mind that the court had to go through almost 10 volumes and the court did it in record time. You have to bear in mind that it is not typical with the short resources that the judges have that they can return judgments in a time that they would like to. Ultimately in this case, they worked overtime.
“You heard the judges thanking the judicial clerks for ensuring they could meet the timeline they gave to the public. We are very grateful for that. Out of all of this, I don’t think that if you asked any of the appellants they would say they got justice,” said Clarke.
“From day one, they professed their innocence. At the end of the day, after almost 13 years, they are going home without the merit of the case actually being decided. For the appellants, it is regrettable that this is how this matter has to end. We hope that this will be a lesson for everybody who loves justice in Jamaica. There are certain things that went wrong in this case and we hope that persons who have the power to change things in this country will examine to ensure that no other Jamaican citizen will have to spend 13 years in custody.

“After 13 years there is nothing anyone can do to give back Kartel, Shawn Storm or any of the appellants the missing 13 years out of their lives. Some of them would have had family members die and they were unable to go to their funeral. Ultimately, what we have to do is do better by them and we also have to do better by victims of crime who themselves will be looking at this and say this is not justice. One would hope that this would be a teachable moment for our country as we move forward to ensure that we ensure we achieve the ideals of our anthem: Justice for all,” added Clarke.
Meanwhile, Cheverria explained that the legal team was not in a position to say whether the clients will seek to sue the State for damages.
Jones was the only one who was not released from prison on Wednesday as he is currently serving an 18-year sentence for wounding with intent stemming from an incident in which he shot a man in Waterford in Portmore, St Catherine, in 2009.

(Jamaica Observer)