Kartel, along with Shawn ‘Shawn Storm’ Campbell, Andre St John, and Kahira Jones, was originally convicted in 2014 for the 2011 murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams.
In March 2024, the Privy Council overturned their convictions due to juror misconduct, which led to a legal debate over whether a retrial should occur.
On Wednesday, the Court of Appeal of Jamaica ruled against a retrial, marking the end of a protracted legal battle that lasted nearly 13 years.
Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop, the newly appointed President of the Court of Appeal, presided over the decision. While Kartel, Campbell, and St John are now free, Jones remains in custody due to a separate sentence.
Celebrating his release, Vybz Kartel shared a video on X with his wife, captioning it: “Am out! Me and wifey.”
Kartel, Shawn ‘Shawn Storm’ Campbell, Kahira Jones, and Andre St John were convicted of the September 2011 murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams.
His trial in 2014 heard that victim Clive Williams and another man, Lamar Chow, were given two unlicensed firearms belonging to Kartel for safekeeping.
When they failed to return them at an agreed time, prosecutors said they were summoned to Kartel’s house in August 2011.
Chow told the trial they were attacked and the last thing he saw was Clive Williams – who was never seen alive again – lying motionless on the ground.
The house burned down days later and his body has never been found.
Kartel and his co-accused Shawn Campbell, Kahira Jones and Andre St John, have always maintained their innocence but were convicted and jailed for life, with Kartel told he would spend a minimum of 35 years in prison.
He appealed first to courts in Jamaica before taking his case to the Privy Council in London, which serves as the highest court of appeal in Jamaica and other Commonwealth countries.
His defence team argued that a juror accused of trying to bribe others should have been thrown off his trial.
The London court agreed with Kartel’s case and ruled in March that the decision not to remove the juror made the conviction unsafe.
The judges said it was “fatal to the safety of the convictions which followed” and “an infringement of the [defendants’] fundamental right to a fair hearing”.
Who is Vybez KartKel
Vybez KartKel is known as one of Jamaica’s most popular artists and has collaborated with performers such as Jay-Z, Eminem and Rihanna.
His best-known hits include Clarks, Ramping Shop and Summer Time, and his success led to him launching lines of shoes, alcohol and condoms.
The singer also became the first dancehall artist to star in his own reality TV show, Teacha’s Pet.