State will have to bear the costs of Kartel retrial in interest of justice, says Crown
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Acting Director of Public Prosecutions, Claudette Thompson has told the Court of Appeal that the state will have to bear the expenses of a retrial of entertainer Vybz Kartel and his murder co-accused in the interest of justice.
“The state will have to bear the cost. It will just have to bear the cost,” Thompson told the court in the opening of the Crown’s presentation on day four of the five-day hearing.
Kartel, whose real name is Adidja Palmer; Shawn “Shawn Storm” Campbell; Kahira Jones and Andre St John were charged with the September 2011 murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams.
The Court of Appeal upheld their convictions in 2020. However, on March 14, 2024, the United Kingdom-based Privy Council, Jamaica’s final court of appeal, overturned the convictions on the grounds of juror misconduct and ordered the Court of Appeal to decide whether or not there should be a retrial.
The retrial hearing is expected to end on Friday.
Arguing her point on the basis of the seriousness of the case and the expenses to be incurred in a retrial, Thompson said: “Murder in general is worth it and this murder specifically because of how it was done, the reason it was done…I don’t know how we can affix a cost to justice.”
“That is a requirement of the law,” Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop interjected. McDonald-Bishop further clarified, “You are saying because it is a murder and the type of murder, the government will have to find the money?”
She further challenged the crown stating, “If one case is going to deplete all our resources — time, money, human — then that has to be considered.”
The Crown’s presentation started with a 20-minute delay as Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop revealed that the Court of Appeal has decided to accept all documents filed by the defence and the prosecution in the interest of justice.
McDonald-Bishop clarified that the hearing was not to determine guilt or innocence but to decide on a retrial. She said the court will accept all documents and decide how to treat them during deliberations.
McDonald-Bishop, along with Justices Paulette Williams and David Fraser will decide the case.
The Crown also argued that when considering the ordeal suffered by the accused person on trial, this must not be done without considering the ordeal suffered by the victims.
— Kelsey Thomas
