AN office building shared by at least seven attorneys on Duke Street in downtown Kingston, which housed documents crucial for at least two high-profile court cases, including the Vybz Kartel murder matter, was totally destroyed by fire last Thursday.

Jamaica Fire Brigade divisional commander for Kingston and St Andrew Senior Superintendent Patrick Gooden told the Jamaica Observer on Monday that all documents in filing cabinets, furniture, and other items went up in the blaze.

At least one of the attorneys who used that building was said to have been a legal representative of reputed gangster Tesha Miller.

John Clarke, one of the attorneys who operates from the building, refused to comment on Monday, saying only, “I am still in the grieving process.”

According to the JFB’s Gooden, the York Park Fire Station was alerted to the fire at 2:07 am.

“One unit from York Park responded, and when they arrived at the location they realised the building was fully engulfed in flames, which required additional assistance from Trench Town and Rollington Town stations,” he said, adding that they eventually extinguished the blaze after about six hours.

“The building was constructed of concrete and steel. A section was covered by slab roofing and another section covered by slab and zinc. It was totally destroyed, and we have not yet determined the cause,” Gooden said.

“It’s approximately four days now but investigators have been there on several occasions trying to get details and trying to get as much evidence that can assist them to identify a cause. One of the things they identified was that the board flooring inside the building was something to pay attention to,” Gooden added.

The Jamaica Observer had learnt last week that lawyers representing Adidja “Vybz Kartel” Palmer were planning to file a habeas corpus application to have him released from prison, following the recent Privy Council ruling. But when the Observer called Kartel’s lawyer Isat Buchanan last week he was dodgy and recommended that whoever gave wind of the plan should explain the details.

However, on Monday, Jamaica received news that Kartel’s legal team had filed the habeas corpus.

When contacted on Monday, Buchanan said the habeas corpus hearing will take place on May 29 and 30.

Buchanan, who up to recently had an office in the building that was destroyed last week, said the application was made because of problems the defence did not wish to disclose or elaborate on.