Vybz Kartel Retrial Hearing | Day 6: Judge says bail may not be sufficient to cure rights violations

In a potential blow to the prosecution, the Court of Appeal today indicated that granting bail may not be sufficient to cure rights breaches if Vybz Kartel and his co-accused are ordered to be retried for murder.

Last week, prosecutor Loriann Tugwell conceded that the men's rights to a fair trial in a reasonable time has been breached and could be infringed by a retrial.

However, she said there are remedies such as bail which are open to the court to address the constitutional violation.

But this morning, presiding judge Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop said the bail suggestion may not be appropriate.

She said even if the men are granted bail, their right to a fair trial in a reasonable time would still being infringed.

The judge said the issue is not about getting bail but about getting a trial in a reasonable time.

The judge's view was in favour of an argument raised by John Clarke, one of the defence lawyers in the case.

Vybz Kartel, whose real name is Adidja Palmer, and his co-accused, Shawn 'Shawn Storm' Campbell, Kahira Jones and Andre St John, are charged with the 2011 murder of Clive Williams in 2011.

The Court of Appeal upheld their convictions in 2020.

However, on March 14, 2024, the United Kingdom-based Privy Council, Jamaica's final court of appeal, overturned the convictions on the grounds of juror misconduct.

It said the trial judge should have dismissed tainted juror Livingston Cain, who was later found guilty of accepting a bribe to try to influence the panel. 

However, the Privy Council did not free the men.

It ordered that the Court of Appeal should decide whether there should be a retrial. 

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