Lawyers involved in Vybz Kartel case deny brewing tension with DPP

By Nakinskie Robinson  

 

Attorneys representing Shawn 'Shawn Storm' Campbell in the murder appeal case involving incarcerated dancehall entertainer Adidja 'Vybz Kartel' Palmer and two others are denying any brewing tension between their team and the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

 

Attorney John Clarke, who sought to make the clarification, said defence counsel is solely focused on delivering justice for Mr. Campbell and the others.

 

"All we want and I would suspect that all the DPP wants is justice for the relevant persons. And our idea of what justice is may differ, but I don't believe that we are in a war of words," he indicated. 

 

Mr. Clarke also expressed concern about allegations of misinformation and orchestrated illicit actions in the case.

 

"I see on both sides persons criticising defence counsel, accusing the defence counsel of essentially participating in some activity which could be borderline criminal to try and orchestrate the release of the men, which is far from the truth. And the Privy Council's judgment indicated quite clearly that there's nothing linking the accused men to what exactly 'Juror X' did. 

 

"And I note on to other side that there are persons who are accusing the DPP's office of some conduct which also borderlines criminal, saying that perhaps she needs to be investigated. And we just want to make it clear that perhaps tempers on both sides need to be relaxed," the attorney pleaded. 

 

He reiterated his call for calm as the case progresses. 

 

"We don't want any public servant or any defence counsel to think that they're either intimidated or that their lives might be on the line, or to have their character reputation unduly attacked for simply doing their job."  

 

Mr. Clarke was a guest Tuesday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106 FM.

 

The Privy Council last Thursday quashed the murder convictions of Adidja Palmer, Shawn Campbell, Kahira Jones and Andre 'Mad Suss' St. John, and sent the case back to Jamaica's Court of Appeal for a decision to be made on whether the matter should be retried. The lawlords indicated that the initial trial should not have continued with a tainted juror.