Jamaican dancehall superstar, Vybz Kartel’s plea for new evidence to be offered in the appeal of his murder conviction was denied by the Privy Council.
Paula Llewellyn, Director of Public Prosecutions, clarified this in an interview with Nationwide Radio on Tuesday.
According to Llewellyn, the legal proceedings in Kartel’s murder appeal case are still ongoing. He is also appealing his conviction and sentence for the 2011 slaying of his associate, Clive ‘Lizard Williams.
According to Llewellyn, the request to introduce new evidence relates to the phone at the centre of the case that led to Vybz Kartel, given name Adijah Palmer, being handed a sentence of 35 years before being eligible for parole for the 2011 murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams.
The Privy Council said in its ruling that having considered an application for permission to appeal from the judgement of the Court of Appeal of Jamaica on April 3, 2020, and having considered written submissions from the appellants and the respondents, they’ve agreed that:
- Permission to appeal be refused (in the application dated 20 November 2020).
- permission to appeal the additional grounds advanced on behalf of Mr. Palmer be refused and also refused on the application for an extension of time and application to rely on fresh evidence. The grounds do not support the submission that a serious miscarriage of justice has occurred in this case (in the application dated 12 November 2021)
Vybz Kartel and co-accused were granted conditional leave to challenge their murder conviction to have the court admit fresh information from an expert witness in relation to cell phone evidence. The phone was examined in Jamaica in the presence of the prosecution.
Kartel and fellow entertainer Shawn Storm, given name Shawn Campbell, as well as Kahira Jones and Andre St. John, were convicted in 2014 for killing Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams in 2011.
Williams’ body was never recovered.
Kartel was ordered to serve 35 years before he is eligible for parole while Shawn Storm’s parole eligibility period was set at 25 years.
St. John and Jones will have to serve 30 and 25 years respectively before they are eligible for parole.
