Staff writer – Kerran Monroe
65 days of trial, 30 witnesses, 5 co accused, 1 verdict. Thursday March 13, 2014 marked what is now known as the longest trial in Jamaican history. After over two months of testimonies and cross examinations; what is arguably the most watched/followed court case in Jamaican history has finally come to a close. Vybz Kartel and three of his co-accused were found guilty of the murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams. The other one of the five, Shane Williams was found not guilty.
According to the Lawyer of Shane Williams, his client now needs psychiatric help to deal with the trauma of being held in a jail cell for over 2 years. According to Williams’ attorney, his client now suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. It affected him to the point where he was pretty much poker faced when his verdict was read.
As for the others, they will be sentenced on March 27. All the defense attorneys have reportedly indicated that they would be appealing the verdict.
Of course, Down Town, Kingston was the scene of chaos, moments before the reading of the verdict, with Kartel supporters marching down, King Street, chanting “Free World Boss”. The police, however quickly got a handle on the situation, managing to keep the crowd at bay.
Photo courtesy www.bellenews.com
Showing some support was Hip Hip artist, Busta Rhymes who went to court to show Kartel his support, while complaining that not enough dancehall artistes came out to support Kartel. Meanwhile, on social media, after the reading of the verdict, fellow artiste, Konshens posted a photo of himself and Kartel with the caption “If u from the streets u wish this on no man… Hol up u head Adijah .“
The day following the reading of the verdict, the story was taken up by international media house, MTV, where they posted the story on their website mtv.com.
All in all, it has been a very eventful trial, before, during and after. We now wait to see what the next move of the defense team, while we continue to question, the link between dancehall and criminality.
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