Adidja 'Vybz Kartel' Palmer
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Radio Jamaica's legal analyst Dionne Jackson Miller reports
By Dionne Jackson Miller
Prosecutors will on Friday morning continue to argue that it is possible to have a fair retrial despite the extensive publicity around the Vybz Kartel murder case.
Friday is the last day scheduled for the Court of Appeal hearing to decide if entertainer Adidja 'Vybz Kartel' Palmer and his three co-accused - Kahira Jones, Andre St. John, and Shawn Campbell - should be retried for the murder of Clive 'Lizard' Williams.
There is a very high standard for finding that the level of publicity around a case makes a fair trial impossible. It's not enough to show adverse publicity that can prejudice jurors.
One must show that it is impossible to select a jury that can be fair and unbiased and do their job independently and impartially.
Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Janek Forbes argued that this standard has not been met in the Kartel case.
In any event, he said, the criminal justice system has enough safeguards to protect the integrity of the trial process.
Lawyers for the accused men had argued that safeguards such as changing the location of the trial are not feasible in a small island. But Mr. Forbes said there were other safeguards that could be used such as challenges to potential jurors, and the judge's directions to the jury.
Presiding judge Marva McDonald Bishop said because of the extensive publicity about the juror who tried to bribe other jurors in the first trial, people believe that the accused men were linked to the bribery, although no such link has been shown.
She said the prosecution needs to explain how that concern is to be overcome.
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