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Appeal Court Judge Marva McDonald-Bishop on Tuesday sharply rejected criticism that the court took too long to decide the murder appeal case brought by Vybz Kartel and his co-accused.
Defense attorney John Clark raised the issue during his presentation Tuesday morning while highlighting systemic delays in the criminal justice system. He said there must be evidence that the delays were justified in order for the appellant to receive a fair trial.
The lawyer said he was not blaming any state agency, but noted that it took the Court of Appeal 21 months to render a verdict after hearing the case.
At the same time he blamed the Privy Council for taking a month to decide the matter.
But MacDonald Bishop warned him, “Don’t go there.”
She noted that many of the issues raised by the Supreme Court have already been resolved in the Court of Appeal.
“Mr Clarke, we raised issues with the Privy Council, but the Privy Council refused to consider other issues. The Privy Council focused on a narrow issue that could be addressed by anyone in the world, without legal training,” she said.
“So don’t compare it to what’s going on there. I don’t like that because you’re speaking as if you’re a layman who has no special knowledge of the system,” she continued, while adding that the multitude of questions the courts are often asked to answer must also be taken into account.
In defending the local system, the judge noted that delay was not an empty concept and that consideration had to be given to the complexities involved, including the volume of material.
However, Clark said that given the complexity and duration of the case, the question the court had to answer when considering fairness to the appellant was whether it was fair to subject the defendant to another complex and lengthy trial.
Clark then apologised but the judge sternly told him the “damage had been done”.
Clark is currently submitting his opinion at a hearing to determine whether the two suspects should be retried. In March this year, the British Privy Council overturned the convictions of the two suspects on the grounds of juror misconduct and sent the case back to the Court of Appeal to decide whether the two suspects should be retried.
Adidja ‘Vybz Kartel’ Palmer, Shawn ‘Shawn Storm’ Campbell, Kahira Jones and Andre St John were found guilty of the murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams in March 2014 and sentenced to life imprisonment a month later.
The Court of Appeal upheld their convictions in 2020.
– Tanesha Mundel
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