Adidja 'Vybz Kartel' Palmer and Shawn 'Shawn Storm' Campbell
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Attorney Isat Buchanan, who represents Vybz Kartel
By Kimone Witter
The habeas corpus application hearing seeking the release of entertainer Vybz Kartel and two co-accused is to continue later this month.
The matter was adjourned in the Supreme Court on Monday morning.
The application will be heard over two days, May 29 and 30.
Attorneys representing Kartel, whose given name is Adidja Palmer, Shawn 'Shawn Storm' Campbell, and Andre 'Mad Suss' St. John filed an application for their release following the overturning of their murder conviction.
"The matter was set to be heard today, however, the judge was of the view that the Director of Public Prosecutions is an interested party, as well as for the jurisprudence that proper submissions be put before the court by the those parties," said Vybz Kartel's attorney Isat Buchanan, who sought to explain the reason for Monday's adjournment.
Mr. Buchanan said the habeas corpus application is to be amended to include the Director of Public Prosecutions as an interested party, who is to be served with a copy by 4 o'clock Monday.
The Office of the DPP is to respond on or before May 20.
Kartel and his co-accused are being held at the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre.
They, along with Kahira Jones, were convicted on March 13, 2014 for the murder of Clive 'Lizard' Williams, but the conviction was overturned by the Privy Council on March 14, 2024.
The case was sent back to the Court of Appeal by the Privy Council for a decision on whether they should face retrial for the 2011 murder. That hearing is set for June 10.
Mr. Buchanan said since the overturning of their murder conviction on March 14, Kartel and his co-accused have been in suspension.
He said, for this reason, the attorneys saw it necessary to seek their release.
"One can appreciate that the liberty of the men are left unanswered. The men are in no man's land as it is. One would call it 'la la land'... It's a lacuna in the law where you're not convicted, you're not charged, but you're held in abeyance. I think in terms of where the law is, that the legislators would have needed to make certain amendments to account for a situation where conviction is quashed, but the matter is not yet before the court," he reasoned.
Mr. Jones has another matter before the court, hence his release is not being sought.
Clive Williams was allegedly killed after he failed to return two unlicensed guns given to him by Kartel for safekeeping.
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