Incarcerated dancehall superstar, Vybz Kartel, has been granted a hearing date in the United Kingdom to appeal his life conviction for a 2011 murder, Fox 5 News has confirmed.
Isat Buchanan, the attorney of the deejay, confirmed to Fox 5 News reporter Lisa Evers that the hearing is scheduled for February 14-15.
Evers said the U.K. Privy Council will hear Vybz Kartel’s appeal, as well as that of his co-defendants, during the session.
Evers said that Buchanan also confirmed that he sought an expedited hearing for Vybz Kartel’s appeal, citing his ongoing health issues.
Earlier this year, it was reported that the deejay was battling an autoimmune disorder known as Graves’ disease and two alleged heart conditions. The condition of the 47-year-old incarcerated entertainer was said to be life-threatening.
Evers had obtained a sworn medical affidavit from the artiste’s private doctor, endocrinologist Karen Phillips, which outlined that Kartel has been battling Graves’ disease for seven years.
Evers also shared that Kartel has two heart conditions that are worsening and that if he does not get surgery, “he could die.”
In the over 10 years that Vybz Kartel has been incarcerated, he has conducted several exclusive interviews with Evers from prison.
Read more on Kartel’s jailhouse interviews:
- Vybz Kartel Gives Exclusive ‘Jailhouse’ Interview with Fox 5 New York
- Vybz Kartel Speaks of Positive Life Changing Mindset In Part Two of Exclusive Interview With Fox 5
Last year, Evers also conducted an interview with Sidem Ozturk, said to be the entertainer’s fiancee at the time.
Vybz Kartel’s last chance
The upcoming hearing will be the final appeal opportunity for Vybz Kartel to overturn the life sentence he was slapped with in the 2011 murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams.
The Privy Council is Jamaica’s highest appellate court.
Read: Dancehall Artiste Vybz Kartel Granted Leave To Take Appeal To UK’s Privy Council
Kartel was officially found guilty of Williams’ murder in 2014, with Justice Lennox Campbell directing that Kartel, whose real name is Adidja Palmer, serve a minimum of 35 years before being eligible for parole. His co-convicts: Shawn Campbell (also known as Shawn Storm) and Kahira Jones would be eligible for parole after 25 years, while André St John would be eligible after 15 years.
In 2020, all four men had their appeals dismissed by Jamaica’s Court of Appeal. The men did, however, have their sentences reduced after the appellate court found an oversight in the trial judge’s ruling.
With the current sentence, Vybz Kartel must now serve at least 32 years and 6 months instead of the 35 years minimum. Shawn Storm and Kahira Johns will now serve 22 years and six months, while André St John will serve 27 years and six months.
Lawyers for the convicts have continuously argued that the life sentences handed down in the original trial were excessive. They also called into question the integrity and admissibility of the evidence in the case as well as the conduct of the original trial judge, Justice Lennox Campbell.
If the upcoming appeal is dismissed, Vybz Kartel will be eligible for parole in the year 2046.
