Tavares-Finson welcomes ruling to free Vybz Kartel

By Halshane Burke   

 

Attorney-at-law Tom Tavares-Finson has welcomed the judgment of the Court of Appeal to free dancehall entertainer Adidja 'Vybz Kartel' Palmer and his co-accused.

 

Palmer and his co-accused were freed after the court ruled that there should be no retrial for the murder of Clive 'Lizard' Williams. 

 

The Privy Council had quashed the men's conviction and sent the matter back to the Court of Appeal to determine if the men should be retried or set free.

 

Mr. Tavares-Finson, who was a member of the team of defence attorneys when the Kartel matter went to trial, said the judgment is the right one. 

  

"I believe that the judgment is in the interest of justice and lends credibility to the various objections which were raised by the defence team at the initial trial," he said. 

 

The attorney also used the opportunity to praise the Privy Council, which initially quashed the convictions, noting that its "fair treatment of this kind of high profile matter...is another reason why many Jamaicans, including myself, continue to support the retention of the Privy Council as the country's final Court of Appeal, or as is referred to nowadays, the apex court". 

 

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has opted not to comment at this time on the Court of Appeal's ruling in the Kartel matter.

 

In a statement issued Wednesday evening, the office of the DPP said it will await both the summary and full written decision of the court before commenting on the matter.

 

The Court of Appeal has advised that it will provide a written summary of the reasons for its decision and a full written judgment will follow.

 

The Court ruled that the countervailing weight and the interests of justice are against a new trial being ordered.