Buju files appeal

LAWYERS representing imprisoned Reggae artiste Buju Banton today filed an appeal to have his conviction reversed in the United States Court of Appeal for the Eleventh Circuit in Georgia.

The attorneys — David Oscar Markus, Mona Markus, Anita Margot Moss and Marc Seitles — are contending that Banton's conviction should be reversed and the case should be dismissed with prejudice or that he should receive a new trial.

Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, was sentenced in June this year to 10 years' imprisonment by United States magistrate Jim Moody in the Sam M Gibbons US Court in Tampa Florida. He was found guilty of conspiring to negotiate a drug deal in a police controlled warehouse in Florida.

The lawyers are contending that the district court erred in failing to grant Myrie’s judgment of acquittal as a matter of law, where:

The undisputed evidence is that Myrie did not agree to participate in the drug conspiracy that eventually was reached among others;

Myrie had almost no participation in the telephone call forming the basis of the government’s charge that he aided and abetted the “facilitation” of a drug conspiracy, and in fact the telephone call in question did not facilitate a drug conspiracy in any event;

Whether the district court erred in failing to find that Myrie was entrapped as a matter of law, where there was no evidence that Myrie was predisposed to engage in a cocaine distribution scheme, and the undisputed evidence was that the government pursued a lengthy, intense, unrelenting campaign to target Myrie through an unsupervised paid informant who was desperate to earn a cut of the deal; and

Whether the district court erred in failing to dismiss the case based on the expiration of the speedy trial clock.

The attorneys are also contending that the district court erred in failing to find that Myrie was entrapped as a matter of law, as he was not predisposed to participate in a cocaine conspiracy and his involvement was the result of improper government inducement.

They will also argue that Myrie demonstrated reluctance to participate in a drug conspiracy and his consistent efforts to avoid following up government informant Alex Johnson’s consistent and emphatic efforts to draw Myrie in and because the speedy trial clock ran long before his case was tried, the case should have been dismissed with prejudice.

Setting aside excludable days, the 70-day clock expired in this case, 93 days before Myrie was initially tried, more than double the amount of time permitted by the Speedy Trial Act, the lawyers will also argue in their bid to free Buju Banton, who is now languishing in a Miami, Florida-based prison.

Another man charged along with Vybz Kartel

ANDRE St John yesterday became the sixth man was to be charged along with entertainer Vybz Kartel and others for the August 16 murder of Clive ‘Lizard Willians.

The others charged along with Kartel and St John are entertainer Shawn ‘Shawn Storm’ Campbell, Cairo Jones, fashion designer Calvin Haye and Shane Williams. The men are to appear in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court on Monday, December 19.

St John was charged yesterday while Kartel is scheduled to be questioned today on suspicion that he conspired with fellow entertainer Vanessa Saddler, who goes by the stage names 'Vanessa Bling' and 'Gaza Slim', to pervert the course of justice.

Saddler, on Tuesday, was denied bail in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court after being charged on the weekend with conspiracy and attempting to pervert the course of justice in relation to the August 16 murder of Clive 'Lizard' Williams.

It is alleged that Saddler, in order to give the impression that Williams was not dead, reported to the Constant Spring police that she was robbed by him. A text was allegedly sent to Saddler's cellphone, instructing her to make the report. Saddler is scheduled to return to Court on December 19.

Williams' body has not been found, but the prosecution said it has video and audio evidence to prove the August 16 murder. Williams is alleged to have been killed over a missing firearm, said to be illegal.

Kartel, whose real name is Adidja Palmer, along with other men, is also facing murder and other charges in relation to the shooting death of Gregory Park, St Catherine, resident Barrington Bryan, alias 'Bossie', in July.

Kartel was offered bail in the sum of $3 million in relation to Bryan's murder and will next appear in the court on December 21 on that charge.

Rapist with bitten-off penis gets 100 years

A man whose penis was almost bitten off when he held a woman at gunpoint and forced her to have oral sex has been sentenced to a total of 108 years for offences which included rape, robbery with aggravation illegal possession of firearm and indecent assault.

He will only serve 25 years as Justice Bryan Sykes ordered yesterday that the sentences for the eight offences must run concurrently.

Patrick Drysdale, 25, mason, of Sunny Hill, St Thomas, was convicted in the Gun Court of two counts of rape, two counts of robbery with aggravation, indecent assault, wounding with intent and illegal possession of firearm. The sentences ranged from 10 to 25 years.

Drysdale got the maximum sentence of three years' imprisonment for indecent assault involving the woman who bit him on his penis.

penis almost severedEvidence was given that after he forced the woman to have oral sex with him, she bit him on his penis almost severing it and he stabbed her several times. He was sentenced to 25 years for wounding with intent.
The police found Drysdale at the hospital suffering from an injury to the penis. When questioned he said that he was in bed with a woman when her jealous lover came home and hit him with a piece of chain on his penis. The penis which was bandaged was almost severed.
The Crown led evidence that on June 20, 2008, Drysdale committed the offences in Stony Hill, St Andrew. He went to the homes of three women, robbed and raped two of them, indecently assaulted the third woman and then wounded her.
Drysdale was released from prison a few weeks before he committed the offences. He had previous convictions for illegal possession of firearm and ammunition.

Promoter promises safe Sting ... despite election tension

Isaiah Laing

Despite the 'war atmosphere' with the announcement of four clashes at Sting, promoter Isaiah Laing of Supreme Promotions guarantees patrons another safe staging of the event.

Known as the 'greatest one night reggae show on Earth,' Sting will be seeing four clashes this year at its 'Rumours of War' edition.

Scheduled for Jamworld, Portmore, on December 26, Sting will be seeing lyrical war with Hurricane vs Specialist, Deva Bratt vs Iyara, Tony Matterhorn vs Twin of Twins and KipRich vs Merciless. With such an ambitious line-up of clashes and in the middle of the election period, with election day scheduled for December 29, Laing is reassuring patrons that everything will be peaceful for them.

He told THE WEEKEND STAR, "I just had a meeting with the police today and there will be over 200 security personnel employed in the venue. Also, there are measures on the ground, which we can't talk about, that have been implemented, which we always do." As usual, the event has refrained from selling bottled drinks so there won't be any 'missiles' flying on to the stage.

No election tension

According to Laing, the election will not be causing him and his event any added heartache either. He said, "there's no election tension, you're not even hearing of a lot of election violence."

This year's show is going back to Sting standards with a heavy focus on clashes. In a previous interview with THE WEEKEND STAR, Heavy D of Supreme Promotions said, "This year, Sting is going to be like a 45 shoot-out, 45 minutes into every hour we want a clash, from 11:45 p.m. to 5:45 a.m."

Laing says the anticipation is building in the streets, "di show ago tun up, everything is going smooth. The artistes are working with us well this year and everyone is saying it sounds like we're gonna get the 30,000 crowd. The line-up is hot and we have Mavado coming on at 1:45 a.m., and Popcaan in one of his first major solo performances."

The line-up also includes 'the generals' with Bounty Killer, Aidonia, Spice, Gyptian and Elephant Man. In the 'Bad Rastas' segment, there will be I-Octane, Zamunda, Khago, I-Wayne, Etana, Teflon and Chuck Fenda. Representing the '5 Young Generals' is Jah Vinci, among others, and 'Generation Next' will feature Tommy Lee, Flexxx, T'Nez, Raine Seville, Lisa Hyper, Ikaya and more.

The Sting brand has expanded this year to include a number of other events around the date and leading up to it. Sting Face-Off Wednesdayz will happen every Wednesday night at Club Riddim where young artistes will battle lyrically to perform on Sting. Prior to Sting will be Candy Cane held on Christmas Day at Club Riddim.

Rumfire is on as one of the event's major sponsors with a song made in honour of the event called Fire In Your Glass. As for any surprises, Laing added, "there's one last chance for a surprise, lets hope luck is with us."

  

Venezuela turns over alleged drug lord to US

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela has handed a top Colombian drug trafficking suspect to US authorities.

The US had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Maximiliano Bonilla Orozco, known as "Valenciano". Bonilla was captured in Venezuela last month.

He was turned over to US authorities at Caracas' international airport today and led aboard a plane.

The US State Department had listed Bonilla among its eight most-wanted Colombian drug traffickers after leftist rebels.

US officials say Bonilla sent tonnes of cocaine to the United States through Central America and Mexico, dealing extensively with Mexico's Zetas drug cartel.

Actor sentenced to life in prison for gang rape

SANTA ANA, California (AP) — A bit actor who appeared in the first "Austin Powers" movie was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the violent 1990 gang rape of a Southern California woman.

Joseph Son, 40, was found guilty of one felony count of torture August 25 after being linked to the crime through DNA evidence, said Farrah Emami, spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney.

In 1997's "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery," Son wore a bowler hat and played one of Dr Evil's henchmen, named Random Task.

Son and co-defendant Santiago Lopez Gaitan, 40, abducted the then-19-year-old victim as she was walking her dog by her apartment on Christmas Eve.

Son and Gaitan drove the woman to Huntington Beach and repeatedly raped and sodomised her in the back of the car at gunpoint. They also pistol-whipped her and repeatedly threatened to kill her, counting the bullets and telling her she was going to die.

Prosecutors say the woman, identified in court papers as Jane Doe, begged for her life before Son and Gaitan released her, naked, badly injured and blindfolded with her own pants. She went to a local home, where police were called.

Evidence was collected from the woman that Christmas Eve, but the case eventually went cold.

It wasn't until Son pleaded guilty to felony vandalism in 2008 and violated probation that he was required to provide a DNA sample. That sample was linked to DNA collected from Doe in 1990.

In an "impact statement" to the court, the woman said she deals with post-traumatic stress disorder daily, and Christmas has become difficult to celebrate every year.

"My emotional scars are intense," she told the court. "My twenties were stripped from my life as I relearned how to walk, see, hear and cope with the outside world again."

Gaitan pleaded guilty in January to five felonies, including kidnapping and sodomy by force in concert. He was sentenced to 17 years and four months in state prison.

An arrest warrant has been issued for the granddaughter of reggae legend Bob Marley in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday.

She is Donisha Prendergast, 26, who failed to appear in court for a second time. Prendergast has been charged with possession of ganja.

On November 30, THE STAR reported that Prendergast's lawyer asked that a warrant be issued and execution stayed until December 13, as Prendergast was overseas at the time.

Allegations are that on Monday November 21, about 3:17 p.m., officers were conducting search duties along Water Lane in downtown Kingston when a red BMW X5 being driven by the accused was signalled to stop.

It is alleged that when the vehicle was searched, three clear plastic bags containing vegetable matter resembling ganja were found.

Further allegations are that a white cigar item resembling a ganja spliff burnt at one end was also found.