- The singer was convicted in 2014 of the 2011 murder of Clive 'Lizard' Williams.
- Appeal judges in Jamaica decided the case would not go back to court
Jamaican dancehall star Vybz Kartel was freed from prison after 10 years following a landmark decision by the Appeal.
Alongside Shawn ‘Shawn Storm’ Campbell, Kahira Jones, and Andre St John, the singer was convicted in 2014 of the 2011 murder of Clive 'Lizard' Williams. In March, the UK's Privy Council overturned the verdict due to evidence of juror misconduct.
Although his conviction was overturned months ago, authorities in Jamaica had time to decide whether he should be retried.
On Wednesday 31st.August. 2024, appeal judges in Jamaica decided the case would not go back to court "in the interests of justice."
Kartel has always maintained his innocence.
Kartel and his co-defendants, Shawn Campbell, Kahira Jones, and Andre St John, were given life sentences, with the dancehall artist being told he would have to spend a minimum of 35 years in prison.
After initially appealing his sentence in Jamaica courts, he took his case to the Privy Council, where the London court agreed with Kartel, and the judges said it was “fatal to the safety of the convictions which followed” and “an infringement of the [defendants’] fundamental right to a fair hearing.”
On 31st /August/ 2024 Jamaica’s Court of Appeal’s Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop stated she and the other judges weighed up the “egregious nature and seriousness of the offense” against the amount of time passed, the lack of access to witnesses and evidence as well as the huge expense of a retrial. Another determining factor was Kartel’s “declining health” and the effects of what a new trial would have had on his physical and mental well-being.
“We conclude that the interests of justice do not require a new trial,” the court said, formally acquitting the recording artist and his co-defendants. Following his release, Kartel expressed gratitude and joy on social media.