Will Vybz Kartel Be Released? Court’s Decision On Retrial Expected This Week

The legal fraternity and fans will know the fate of Dancehall star Vybz Kartel this week when the Court of Appeal delivers the crucial decision on whether the entertainer and his co-accused will face a retrial for the murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams.

At the center of the decision is Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop, who recently made history as Jamaica’s first female President of the Court of Appeal. McDonald-Bishop, who was sworn in on July 18, replaces Justice Patrick Brooks, who recently retired.

Justice McDonald-Bishop leads the panel of three judges deliberating the case. Alongside her are Justices Paulette Williams and David Fraser, both respected jurists with extensive experience in the legal field.

Kartel, whose given name is Adidja Palmer, along with Shawn ‘Shawn Storm’ Campbell, Kahira Jones, and Andre St John, were charged with the murder of Clive Williams. During the original trial, prosecutors had relied on telecommunication evidence — including a text message stating that Williams, whose body was never found, had been “chopped up fine fine” — and the key eyewitness, Lamar “Wee” Chow, who testified that Williams was murdered at Kartel’s home in Havendale, St Andrew on August 16, 2011, after they were summoned there over missing guns.

The accused men consistently denied any role in Williams’ death but were found guilty in 2014.

Vybz Kartel and Shawn Storm during their trial

The Court of Appeal upheld these convictions in 2020.

However, in March 2024, the London-based Privy Council, which serves as Jamaica’s highest court, overturned the convictions due to issues of juror misconduct.

Nevertheless, despite this decision, the Privy Council did not release the men but instead directed the case back to the Court of Appeal to determine whether or not the quartet ought to be retried.

Last month, a report suggested that the Jamaican government’s final cost in opposing the appeal in the UK could reach over J$150 million.

In mid-June, former Prime Minister PJ Patterson, in a reasoning session at the University of the West Indies Faculty of Law, had said that Kartel’s case ought not to have gone to the Privy Council in the first place as there was judicial precedent from a similar case in which the Jamaican Court of Appeal had decided that “once there is any sign of contamination, you must dismiss the entire jury.”

On June 18 (day six of the retrial hearing), Justice McDonald-Bishop had declared that the Court of Appeal would hand down its judgment on whether the Summertime artist should be retried for Williams’ murder by July 31 this year.

Explaining that the question of a retrial was never easy for a court of law, especially when it involves serious offences and lengthy delays, the jurist had said that it would “take us time but the court is mindful of the need for expedition in this matter”.

In reserving judgment, Justice McDonald Bishop said that “given the importance of the case, even if we reach a decision, we cannot come back to just give our decision without our reasons for the decision. And that is where the delay usually comes from. But we’re mindful of all the issues, especially the health issue of one of the appellants. So, we’ll do our best, and we can say we aim for no later than the end of the term.”