Vybz Kartel Appeal Verdict Set For Tomorrow, Dancehall Star Confident
Vybz Kartel will learn the judgment of his murder appeal by tomorrow.
The Court of Appeal will deliver the Dancehall artist’s verdict on Friday morning (April 3, 2020), according to the Jamaica Gleaner.
Bert Samuels, who represents one of Kartel’s co-accused, Shawn Storm, confirmed to the publication today that all the attorneys will receive the judgment electronically.
“At 9:30 tomorrow morning, all the attorneys will receive the judgment on their phones,” the attorney stated, adding that arrangements have been made to facilitate the media.
“We have set up a makeshift area where representatives from the media will be asked to congregate to hear the results,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Vybz Kartel remains upbeat about the outcome of his pending appeal.
“I’ve been here for eight years waiting, therefore, impatience is not an option or an emotion that can serve me any good. In any case, I already know how Jamaica’s system operates… at its own pace,” the incarcerated deejay is quoted saying in comments sent to the Jamaica Gleaner via Gaza’s vice-president, Sikka Rhymes, this week.
“I feel very upbeat about the case. Weak evidence, fabricated evidence, and prosecutorial misconduct aside, there is absolutely nothing to worry about in law. I’m 100 percent sure I should be set free. Legally, there is very little to be concerned about. But put the ‘Kartel factor’ in the mix and everything gets complicated,” the “Fever” deejay added.
Last year December, court registrar Stacie-Ann Reid, in a letter to the defendant’s lead attorney, Tom Tavares Finson said the court was at an “advanced stage” of preparing the judgment.
Vybz Kartel and his co-accused have been waiting for almost 20 months on the ruling following their three-week appeal hearing in July 2018.
The Dancehall artiste, whose real name is Adidja Palmer, and co-accused Shawn Campbell, Kahira Jones, and Andre St John were convicted in 2014 for the 2011 murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams.
On April 3, 2014, Justice Lennox Campbell gave Vybz Kartel and his co-accused mandatory life sentences for the 2011 murder.
The controversial artist, was ordered to serve 35 years before becoming eligible for parole. Campbell, Jones and St John were each ordered to serve 25 years.
The men appealed their sentences and convictions in July 2018 and have been awaiting an outcome since. Their lawyers contended that the trial judge allowed “contaminated” exhibits to be included in the trial.
