Fire at death house spotlighted on final day in Kartel appeal
Published:Friday | February 16, 2024 | 12:12 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is expected to rule in a few months on the fate of dancehall star Vybz Kartel and his three murder co-convicts following an adjournment of their appeal hearing on Thursday.
The second and final day saw conclusive arguments, which also brought into question the sudden destruction of the 7 Swallowfield Avenue house in Havendale, St Andrew, where Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams was beaten to death over two missing guns in August 2011.
King’s Counsel Peter Knox, who appeared on behalf of the prosecution, pointed to Kartel, whose given name is Adidja Palmer, and his co-convicts – Shawn ‘Shawn Storm’ Campbell, Kahira Jones, and Andre St John – being at the location on the fateful day.
Cell-site mapping pinned the men at the address, and Knox told the Law Lords that the men could not be excluded from the killing.
“The short point is that there is no denial that one can take out that they were there, and that is significant because the premises [was] then subsequently destroyed a few days later, or partly destroyed, and there is no explanation for this,” Knox asserted.
The KC said the deceased was never seen after August 16, 2011, the day he was also last heard from.
“In particular, the entire interior of the house where the killing took place was burnt on the 27th of August, two weeks later. [There was a] foul odour there on the 29th of August … and then by the 30th of September, the entire rear of the house had been demolished,” Knox said, adding that the house belonged to Kartel and he questioned why the entertainer had made no report of a fire.
The four men were convicted in March 2014 and were all sentenced to life imprisonment.
RISK OF BIAS
Knox, on Thursday, sought to establish that the evidence against the convicts was so strong that the risk of bias was not an issue and that the verdict was fair.
This is against the background that much of the appeal has focused on the issue of whether juror Livingston Caine, who was found guilty of offering a $500,000 bribe to the jury forewoman to influence other jurors to return a not-guilty verdict in the case, should have been dismissed from the panel.
Caine’s dismissal would have meant the 64-day trial would have had to be restarted.
Knox referenced the other evidence against the convicts, such as one text sent by Kartel, which read, “Between me and you, a chop we chop up the bwoy Lizard fine fine and dash him weh – as long as you live dem can never find him”.
Knox pointed to incriminating texts from Campbell and also the deceased’s final text messages to his spouse.
“Those texts ... [showed] that the deceased was on his way to be executed, and he suddenly realised what was going to happen to him. There can’t be any doubt about that,” Knox said.
He argued that if the court disagreed, the case should be sent back to the Jamaican Court of Appeal for them to decide if there should be a retrial.
In response, King’s Counsel Hugh Southey, for the appellants, said a new trial should not be ordered since Kartel’s high profile and the length of time since the first trial would mean a fair trial was no longer possible.
Southey said trial judge Lennox Campbell’s directions to the jury were not adequate.
He said that where one juror had already been let go and another had been tried for bribery, the jury’s verdict could not be valid.
He suggested that if bribery creates a problem for the Jamaican justice system, the solution is to amend the Jury Act, as the British have done, so that a case can continue with the judge alone.
The appellants are also represented by Bert Samuels, Bianca Samuels, John Clarke, Linda Hudson, and Isat Buchanan.
The highly anticipated appeal judgment was reserved by judges Lord Reed, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Briggs, Lord Burrows, and Lady Simler.