The Court of Appeal has revealed that six years after it remitted two cases for retrial in the Supreme Court, the matters are still awaiting a hearing date.
Justice Marva McDonald Bishop made the revelation this morning in the retrial hearing of Vybz Kartel and his co-accused.
She had requested the report from the Supreme Court on Monday.
Mahiri Stewart reports.
The appeal court requested the report to get a sense of how speedily matters sent back for retrial were being dealt with.
Of the two murder cases remitted in the last six years, neither has actually had a retrial. Both are murder cases. The defendants have remained in prison awaiting a new trial date.
The defence team for Kartel, whose given name is Adidja Palmer, as well as Shawn Campbell, Andre St. John and Kahira Jones, has urged the Court of Appeal to reject the state’s attempt to retry the men for the 2011 murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams.
A key point of their argument rests on the allegation that there is a backlog in the Supreme Court, which would lead to further breaches of the constitutional rights of the men who have been in custody for at least 13 years.
The attorneys say the breach would arise as a result of what they describe as an inordinate delay in the matter.
The report from the Supreme Court indicates that judge-only criminal matters are being set for late 2025, while jury cases are being set for late 2026.
Kartel’s team has indicated the men would be opting for a jury trial if the matter was sent back for retrial.
On Thursday, acting Director of Public Prosecutions, Claudette Thompson, had estimated a retrial for the men could occur by 2025.
The Supreme Court report says there is a system in place to ensure priority is given to certain cases.
The retrial hearing is into its final day. The prosecution continues to make its argument for a re-trial of the men at this hour.
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