IN JAMAICA: Wife of police inspector, JDF civilian worker sat on Vybz Kartel jury....

BY PAUL HENRY Coordinator - Crime/Court Desk editorial@jamaicaobserver.com  Wednesday, March 25, 2015     
THE wife of a police inspector and at least one man who works at the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) were among a panel of 11 jurors, who, in 2014, convicted entertainer Vybz Kartel and three other men of murder, it emerged yesterday.
NEITA-ROBERTSON… representing accused juror
The revelation was made in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court as attorney Valerie Neita-Robertson cross-examined the JDF worker, Dennis Brown, on the first day of the trial of Livingston Cain -- the member of the Vybz Kartel jury who has been charged with six counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
The charges stem from allegations that between the start of the murder trial in the Home Circuit Court on November 18, 2013 and the rendering of a verdict in the matter in March 2014, Cain tried to persuade his fellow jurors to return a verdict of not guilty and even offered the jury forewoman $500,000 for a result in favour of Vybz Kartel and his co-accused.
Vybz Kartel (Adidja Palmer), Shawn 'Shawn Storm' Campbell, Andre St John, and Kahira Jones were convicted in the high-profile case, while a fifth man -- Shane Williams -- was acquitted. The convicted men were sentenced to life imprisonment. They are currently appealing the case.
Yesterday, Brown, the first witness called by the prosecution, testified in his examination-in-chief that Cain told him in a conversation in his (Brown's) car that the Crown had no case and that they were "telling 'pare' lies" and "we should not listen to them".
He testified that Cain told him that the accused men were prominent entertainers. Brown said he told Cain it was early days yet and that what he "heard so far" wouldn't be sufficient for him (Brown) to say whether Kartel and his co-accused were guilty. more

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