Prosecutors on Monday asked judges in the Vybz Kartel appeal hearing not to quash the conviction against the entertainer and his co-accused.
Defence attorneys last week asked the three judges in the appeal hearing not to order a retrial. However, Jeremy Taylor, Senior Director of Public Prosecutions, on Monday argued otherwise.
Mr. Taylor said despite the concerns raised by the defence, the jury in 2014 would still have come back with a guilty verdict given the evidence against the men.
Last week, defence attorneys argued about jury contamination.
They asserted that the trial judge allowed the jury to deliberate over the murder case despite reports that one of the jurors tried to bribe the others into finding the men not guilty.
Monday, the Senior Director of Public Prosecutions argued that all the judge had before him were mere allegations.
He said the judge was aware of the limitations to an enquiry into the conduct of the jurors, as this would have been in breach of the rule of secrecy.
He said a mistrial would require a high degree of necessity.
Mr. Taylor further argued that judge was right in his decision not to discharge the jury but to remind them of their oath and warn them not to let their verdict be influenced by external factors.
Mr. Taylor said despite the defence’s claim that the information taken from Kartel’s phone was contaminated, the judge was right in admitting the material.
He said all the data in Kartel’s phone were circumstantial evidence and the judge was right in admitting the material.
Kartel, whose real name is Adidja Palmer, Kahira Jones, Shawn Campbell and Andre St. John, were convicted for the murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams on August 16, 2011.
They are seeking to have their murder conviction and prison sentences overturned.
Extended
Meanwhile, the appeal hearing for Kartel and his co-accused has again been extended.
Tuesday is expected to be the final day of the appeal hearing.
The hearing was initially projected to be completed last Friday.
Senior Director of Public Prosecutions Jeremy Taylor on Friday asked for approximately an hour to complete his submissions on Monday.
However his submission, which started at 9:30, was completed close to 1 o’clock Monday afternoon.
Members of Kartel’s defence team will be responding to aspects of the prosecution’s submission when the hearing resumes at 9:30 Tuesday morning.