The written permission reportedly granted to Vybz Kartel to keep an iPod and a DVD player in jail.
Barbara Gayle, Justice Coordinator
Tom Tavares Finson, the lawyer for popular entertainer Vybz Kartel says his client was given legal permission by the Superintendent of Prisons to keep a a DVD player and an Apple iPod which were seized from his cell during a searches on September 15 and 16.
The disclosure was made today by Kartel’s lawyers Tom Tavares Finson and Christian Tavares Finson.
The lawyers have submitted a copy of the permission granted to Kartel, whose real name is Adijah Palmer, to keep the items in his possession.
The attorneys were responding to a news release on Wednesday by the Constabulary Communication Network saying contraband was found in Kartel’s cell.
The police reported that following a search of the cell occupied by Kartel a number of items of contraband were seized.
The police said the items included a DVD player, an Apple iPod and two cellular phones.
The items, the police reported, were seized in connection to a murder inquiry being conducted following the shooting death of popular music producer Patrick Samuels otherwise called ‘Roach’.
“Following upon our investigations and instructions we are in a position to state that the DVD and Apple iPod taken from the cell of Adidja Palmer were being held by him with the full permission and knowledge of the authorities and the Superintendent of the Prison,” the lawyers said.
They said with respect to the two telephones reportedly taken from their client’s cell their investigations reveal that the phones were taken from an adjoining cell.
“The occupier of that cell has already indicated to the authorities that the phones belong to him and the piece of paper mentioned above is, in fact, instructions written by Palmer to a financial institution”.
The lawyers are now questioning the motive of the police release on the search of Kartel’s cell.
“This news release was obviously calculated to prejudice the pending bail application and trial of Mr. Palmer set in the Home Circuit Court for the 18th of November 2013. It contains the obvious implication that by possessing these items of ‘contraband’ Mr. Palmer was in some way connected to the murder of Samuels. “
The lawyer says they have written to the Commissioner of Police, the Commissioner of Corrections and the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) requesting an immediate investigation into the matter.
They have also written to the Director of Public Prosecutions asking for a determination as to whether the news release was calculated to prejudice Kartel’s pending bail hearing and trial presently before the Home Circuit Court.
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