Jamaican Dancehall Star Vybz Kartel Celebrates Being Released From Prison After His Murder Conviction Was Overturned: ‘God Is The Greatest’

Jamaican Dancehall Star Vybz Kartel Celebrates Being Released From Prison After His Murder Conviction Was Overturned: ‘God Is The Greatest’

Update (Aug. 1, 2024): Vybz Kartel is officially a free man.

The Jamaican dancehall star was released from prison yesterday (Wednesday, July 31), over four months after his murder conviction was overturned in London.

He has since celebrated his freedom by hitting the streets of Jamaica, as seen in a photo shared on his Instagram profile.

 

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A post shared by KING OF DANCEHALL (@vybzkartel)

This morning (Thursday, Aug. 1), he took to his Instagram Story to thank God. He posted a photo of him appearing to lay in bed and wrote,

“God is the great [praying hands Emojis]”

Vybz Kartel had been in jail since 2014 for the murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams. However, he has said from the beginning that he is innocent.

After appeals court judges in Jamaica ruled that the case wouldn’t be retried, he was released.

Once the conviction was overturned, appeals court judges in Jamaica decided if he would go to trial again, and ultimately determined that he would not.

Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop specifically said the panel of judges considered the “egregious nature and seriousness of the offence,” how much time has passed, the fact that there were insufficient witnesses and evidence as well as the cost for Vybz Kartel to be retried again.

She also took his “declining health,” adding, “We conclude that the interests of justice do not require a new trial.

Original Story (March 14, 2024): Vybz Kartel is celebrating a major win.

The Jamaican dancehall star’s murder conviction was officially overturned in London on Thursday (March 14), with the court citing juror misconduct.

Kartel, born Adidja Azim Palmer, has been in jail since 2011, when his friend Clive “Lizard” Williams’ vanished. Despite Williams’ body never being found, Kartel underwent trial for over two months (one of the longest in Jamaican history), where he was one of four people found guilty in 2014. He was sentenced to life behind bars with a minimum of 35 years. He later appealed and the sentence minimum was lowered to 32 1/2 years.

Kartel and the other convicted individuals filed their last permitted appeal in London’s Privy Council last month. Their attorneys accused the trial judge of not properly ruling on claims that a juror offered other jurors 500,000 (about $3,200) if Kartel and the defendants were acquitted.

They argued in their appeal that the judge did not remove the juror in question, a move that was “fatal to the safety of the convictions.”

The Privy Council remanded the case to the Court of Appeal in Jamaica, which would determine if the defendants would get another trial.

Kartel took to Instagram on Thursday to celebrate his conviction being overturned and wrote alongside a headline of the news, “Victorious!!!! @isatbuchanan Anytime now! #bbc #quashed #bussoff #238 #privycouncil”

What are your thoughts on the conviction being overturned? Comment and let us know.