Following the release of Vybz Kartel, Shawn Campbell, and Andre St. John, former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewelyn is yet to make a public statement about the Court of Appeal’s ruling.
Llewelyn served as DPP from 2008 to 2024, overseeing several major cases throughout her career. Without a doubt, one of the most high-profile cases overseen by the former DPP is that of Dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel.
Following the overturning of Kartel’s conviction by the Privy Council in March, Llewelyn expressed that her office would be seeking a retrial in the Jamaican Court of Appeal. The former DPP described it as an obligation.
“I believe we would be obliged to, given the strength of the case for the prosecution that was put up and given the authority and the case law,” Llewelyn stated.
Her pursuit of a retrial and her actions in the initial trial had ignited much debate among Kartel’s fans about whether she was targeting the deejay to make an example of him. However, Llewelyn also said in March that her office’s decision was not based on who the accused was.
“The public has to be aware that the issue of retrial, as far as lawyers, well, make me say, prosecutors and the judiciary are concerned, has nothing to do with emotion; it has nothing to do with who the accused is; it has to do with the seriousness of the offence, the public interest, how perhaps expensive it may be to mount the retrial,” Llewelyn said.
After the Jamaican Court of Appeal ordered that Kartel and his co-accused be freed, no official statement has been released by Llewelyn. The former DPP’s silence was highlighted on Sunday by popular, Vybz Kartel fan page Shemar McKennon on Instagram.
“Prosecutor Paula Lewellyn is somewhere a hide now because Vybzkartel is finally free from prison which is good. She try all this time to bring down Vybzkartel career now the man win his case she supposed to feel shame and embarrass. Make it be the last time we see of her,” the post states.
Kartel’s case initially ended with a win for Llewelyn and her office, with Kartel and his then co-accused all found guilty in 2014 of murder. However, some of Llewelyn’s actions during the murder trial for Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams, were repeatedly called into question during Kartel’s appeal.
Notably, the attorney encouraged the presiding judge to proceed with the trial amid accusations that a juror was attempting to bribe other jurors to free Kartel. This attempted bribery ultimately became the defence’s main argument during their appeal to the Privy Council.
Despite her determination to seek a retrial, her plans to oversee the case came to an abrupt end after a second extension of her tenure as DPP was ruled unconstitutional, null, and void in April. Shemar McKennon’s Instagram post also featured a video snippet, which noted the possible positive effect Llewelyn’s removal as DPP had on Kartel’s case.
The decision to have her removed was made by the Constitutional Court, which upheld a submission from the People’s National Party (PNP) that an amendment to the Constitution to facilitate her second extension was unconstitutional. The Andrew Holness-led Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) government later expressed their plans to appeal the ruling.
The PNP’s perceived “weakening” of the prosecution’s case and the JLP’s affiliation with Llewelyn have since ignited speculation that Kartel will now align himself with the opposition party. Many fans of the deejay noted Kartel’s choice to don an orange kerchief during his release from prison.
During a recent interview with his lawyer, Isat Buchanan, the artiste also expressed that he may enter politics and run for the position of member of parliament for the South St. Catherine constituency.
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