KINGSTON – The look on the face of entertainer Vybz Kartel when his guilty verdict was handed down yesterday said it all.
?The deejay, whose real name is Adidja Palmer, appeared drained and forlorn as he seemed to try to come to grips with the fact that he could be spending more than two decades behind bars for the murder of Clive Lizard Williams.
His eyes were reddened, and as reality sank in, he stared blankly.
He has already been locked away for close to three years.
Sitting beside him was co-accused Shawn Shawn Storm Campbell. He, too, seemed as if the wind was thumped out of him, even as he tried to show a brave face. However, his pain was evident.
As the jury foreman stood and read out the verdicts at the prompting of the court registrar, Kahira Jones bowed his head slightly while André Mad Suss St John maintained the poker-faced look he carried throughout the trial. Both co-accused were also found guilty of murder.
In contrast, Shane Williams, who was found not guilty, was obviously relieved but still seemed to hurt for his friends who were taken back to New Horizon Adult Remand Centre without him.
“Mr Williams, the jury having not found you guilty, the charge against you has been dropped. You may go,” Justice Lennox Campbell told the young man.
An elated Everton Dewar, who represented Williams and maintained his innocence throughout the gruelling 65-day trial, said justice had been done for his client.
“My client has been in custody for 30 months and has finally got some justice. He needs some psychological treatment due to the time he spent behind bars,” Dewar said.
The jurors voted 10 to one in his client’s favour but found the other four accused guilty by the same margin.
Justice Campbell congratulated the jurors for their unflinching service to country and lauded them for their bravery.
“Madam foreman and your members, I would like to thank you for your responsible and serious approach. This is one of the longer cases that I know of in this jurisdiction. Thank you, on behalf of the Jamaican people, for serving and serving well,” Justice Campbell said.
“You could not have done anything else on the evidence presented here; it was not possible,” he added. (Trinidad Express.)
