Vybz Kartel, Co Accused Jamaica Court Of Appeal Privy Council, Buchanan On “Bail” Questions

On Thursday, Kartel, Shawn ‘Shawn Storm’ Campbell, Kahira Jones, and Andre St. John won their appeal in the United Kingdom Privy Council, which overturned their 2014 murder convictions. The Privy Council also diverted the final ruling in the case, whether the men would be acquitted or retried, to the Jamaica Court of Appeal.

Vybz Kartel’s case, his attorney, Isat Buchanan, has given “clarity” on what the next step for him and his client will be after the artiste won his appeal in the Privy Council.

Following the Privy Council’s decision, Cambell’s attorney, Bert Samuels, expressed that any person awaiting a decision from the local court can apply for bail. It was expected and reported that Kartel and his co-accused would likely seek bail pending the local appeal court’s retrial decision.

However, during a later interview, Buchanan clarified that he did not say that he was going to seek bail for his client. He further explained that the local appeal court is not able to begin the process of making a decision until the Privy Council has sent the relevant documents.

In regards to how long that would take, Buchanan said he does not know and is not the type to guess. Amid the uncertainty in the time frame currently surrounding the case, Buchanan highlighted that the appeal was expedited due to Kartel’s poor health and that all matters in the case should likewise be handled quickly.

“People have forgotten that this hearing was an expedited hearing. So all treatment of this matter ought to be done on an expedited basis, and we will be taking that type of approach to dealing with it. Because whatever it is, Mr Palmer has a medical emergency [ … ] that was anticipated to be done sooner than later that the prison system simply cannot manage,” Buchanan stated.

He added that he is confident that the local court will not take the matter lightly.

Watch a segment from the interview with Buchanan below.

“The Privy Council understood the assignment,” says incarcerated Dancehall deejay Vybz Kartel after the highest tier of the court system in Jamaica, quashed the murder conviction against him along with his three co-accused.

In a statement sent to Fox 5’s Lisa Evers, which she posted to her official Instagram account, Vybz Kartel said he feels victorious. “I feel victorious this very moment as the Privy Council in their infinite wisdom, understood the assignment and remedied the situation by quashing my conviction,” he wrote in part.

Kartel also shared that he’s confident that the Jamaican justice system will do the right thing. “I am very confident that the court of appeal in Jamaica will do the right thing in the name of equity, fairness, and justice, and free us”, he continued in part.

The UK Privy Council yesterday (March 14), ordered that incarcerated Dancehall deejays Vybz Kartel and Shawn Storm along with their two co-accused have their convictions quashed for the murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams, on the grounds of juror misconduct and that the case should be remitted, to the Court of Appeal to decide whether to order a retrial.

Meanwhile, Shawn Storm’s attorney Bert Samuels during an interview on IRIE FM with Shanice Gibbs yesterday (March 15), said if his client wishes to retain him as his lawyer, his next move would be an application for bail.