Vybz Kartel has won an appeal of his 2014 murder conviction and life sentence.
The Jamaican dancehall star was sentenced to life in prison 10 years ago, after being convicted of the 2011 murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams.
Now, according to a new report from Reuters, the musician has won an appeal of his conviction due to juror misconduct that took place during his original trial. The appeals court in Jamaica will now decide whether Kartel and his co-defendants will stand trial once again.
The initial trial took place a decade ago, and became one of the longest in the country’s history after it ran for 64 days.
During this time, one of the jurors allegedly tried to bribe others on the panel to put forward a not-guilty verdict. After this came to light, the alleged briber was not dismissed from the case.
It ended with Kartel being ordered to serve a minimum of 35 years in jail, although this was later reduced to 32-and-a-half years.
As shared by BBC News, the Privy Council ruled that allowing the questionable juror to stay on the jury was “fatal to the safety of the convictions which followed” and “an infringement of the [defendants’] fundamental right to a fair hearing.”
It was also argued that jurors were sent to reach a verdict late in the day, putting them under “undue pressure” to do so, and that a key piece of evidence – a text message allegedly sent from Kartel’s phone – presented in court had been obtained in breach of guidelines.
Before his conviction in 2014, Kartel had worked with huge names across the pop and hip-hop scene, including the likes of Rihanna, Pharrell Williams, and Jay-Z. He has continued to release new music during his time in incarceration.
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