Dancehall star Vybz Kartel will remain behind bars after a Jamaican Supreme Court judge denied his attorneys’ habeas corpus application.
Justice Andrea Thomas reportedly said, “In view of the fact that their appeal is not yet determined, they should remain in custody until their appeal is concluded. That is until a verdict of acquittal is entered or there is a decision for a retrial.”
Two of his three co-defendants were also denied.
Attorneys representing Kartel and the co-accused, filed the habeas corpus application last month, seeking their release due to issues the defense did not wish to disclose.
On March 14, the Privy Council overturned their conviction for the 2011 murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams and ordered that the case be returned to Jamaica’s Appeal Court to decide whether a retrial is necessary for Kartel and his co-accused, Shawn’ Shawn Storm’ Campbell, Kahira Jones, and Andre St John.
“I feel victorious in this very moment as the Privy Council, in their infinite wisdom, understood the assignment and remedied the situation by quashing my conviction. I am now back to being an innocent man in the eyes of the law. A grave injustice was done to me and my co-accused in the original trial… and my cries were heard in the land’s highest court,” he told Fox News at the time in a statement.
