Lawyers representing popular dancehall entertainer Vybz Kartel and the three other appellants, completed their legal submissions today (Jul 19) and further outlined errors in the presiding judge’s summation to the jury.
When the hearing resumes tomorrow, senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Jeremy Taylor will put forward legal arguments.
In court today, defence attorney Richard Fletcher submitted that the judge who presided at the trial erred when he left contaminated evidence for the jury to consider.
Fletcher argued that the judge had put to the jury the fact that Kartel’s phone was tampered with and was compromised when calls were made from the phone while in the custody of the police.
He said the judge erred when he asked the jury to decide on the contaminated evidence for which the jurors had no special skill to decide on the matter.

According to Fletcher, the judge also erred when he admitted a video of the murder scene, when none of the appellants was identified in the video.

Meantime, attorney-at-law Oswest Senior-Smith submitted that the appellants’ denial in their unsworn statement that they did not kill anyone, were not treated fairly by the presiding judge.

Senior-Smith said the judge only placed emphasis on the men’s assertion that the police had conspired against them.

President of the Court of Appeal Justice Dennis Morrison, Justice Patrick Brooks and Justice Frank Williams are hearing the appeal.
Kartel, whose real name is Adidja Palmer, along with Shawn “Storm” Campbell, Kahira Jones and Andre St. John  were convicted in march 2014  of  the murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams.

The appellants are seeking to have their convictions overturned.