Ninja Man pleads guilty
Ninja Man The fate of dancehall artiste Desmond “Ninja Man” Ballentyne, 51, was sealed by a seven member jury when he was found guilty of a murder committed eight years ago.
Ninja Man’s co-accused, his son – Janiel and another man – Dennis Clayton, were also found guilty of the murder of Ricardo Johnson, also known as Trooper, in March 2009. Another co-accused – Seymour Samuels, has since died.
Deliberated for three hours
On Monday, the jury deliberated for three hours and found Ninja Man guilty of murder and shooting with intent, while the co-accused were convicted of murder.
Arrested in 2008
Following his arrest in 2008, the controversial entertainer, was in custody for three years before being offered bail. However, he was taken into custody four weeks ago after his bail was revoked by a high court judge who ordered that the murder trail should begin immediately.
The case was transferred to a special court that handles cases on the books for more than five years.
After being convicted, Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, Paula Llewellyn, told reporters that the murder stemmed from a domestic dispute between two tenants in Kingston, that escalated on March 16, 2009, when Johnson was shot dead.
It’s alleged that on the day in question, Johnson was seen sweeping his yard in the company of a friend when a car with three men aboard drove up.
An argument developed between Johnson’s friend and the men, who left but later returned, firing guns. Johnson was fatally shot in the incident.
Ninja Man turned himself into the police shortly after the shooting, on hearing that he was being sought as a person of interest in the case.
17 missed trials
The case was first heard in 2009 and has had 17 missed trial dates and 23 mention dates in eight years.
The prosecution called seven witnesses to prove its case against the accused in the trial which last one month.
One of the witnesses for the prosecution testified that he saw Ninja Man at the scene of the crime and that the entertainer shot at him. However Ninja Man denied this.
According to the DPP, this case was a hard and difficult one.
“Circumstantial evidence cases are difficult cases. The Crown had to prove that there was a common design to cause serious bodily harm to Mr. Johnson and that in pursuant of this common design, all three were culpable,” she said after the ruling.
Sentencing on December 15
Ninja Man and his co-accused will be sentenced on December 15 and face the possibility of life in prison.
On hearing the verdict, Ninja Man, who was led from the court in handcuffs only said “a suh it go man”.
Hailing from the eastern parish of St. Mary, Ninja Man came to prominence in the 1980s. He is well known for songs including Artical Don, Border Clash and Cover Me. He also had a major role in the local action movie Third World Cop in 1999.
Recently he was called on by the Ministry of National Security to be a motivational speaker for members of the police force.
