Vybz Kartel and his co-accused have been sent back to Jamaica’s Court of Appeal in relation to their 2014 murder conviction.
The UK Privy Council, which is Jamaica’s highest appellate court, ordered that the case should be remitted to the Court of Appeal to decide whether to order a retrial of the appellants for the murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams or to set Vybz Kartel free.
The incarcerated Dancehall artiste, along with his co-convicts Shawn Campbell, Kahira Jones, and Andre St John, stand a chance of their convictions being overturned due to allegations of jury tampering.
The four men were originally sentenced to life in prison for the 2014 murder of associate Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams. The sentence was appealed and then rejected by the Jamaican Court of Appeal in 2020.
Major concerns arose during the Privy Council appeal, such as the admissibility of the prosecution’s telecommunications evidence, the handling of jury bribery allegations, and the timing of the verdict prompt by the trial judge. However, jury tampering emerged as a crucial issue during the process.