+4:3 Dancehall reggae star Vybz Kartel, three others convicted of murder

(15 Mar 2014) Jamaican musician Vybz Kartel and three co-defendants were convicted of murder on Thursday, in a high-profile trial in Jamaica's Supreme Court in the capital Kingston.
As the jury deliberated, a crowd of about 200 fans protested in downtown Kingston and chanted "Free Kartel."
Anti-riot police pushed back the crowds who tried to get through barricades guarding the street outside the court.
Ten members of an 11-person jury found Kartel and the three others guilty of the October 2011 killing of Clive "Lizard" Williams.
One defendant was cleared of wrongdoing.
Prosecutors alleged Williams was beaten to death at Kartel's home in August 2011 after being lured there to answer for two missing illegal guns.
His body has never been found.
Police testified they retrieved a text message from Kartel's phone saying Williams was chopped up into mincemeat so fine that his remains would never be found.
Defence lawyer Tom Tavares-Finson said on Friday they planned to appeal the verdict.
"We are in the process right now of putting together the appeal because we feel there are a number of matters, which the court of appeal should be asked to decide on," he said.
Last year, another murder case against Kartel and two other co-defendants collapsed after prosecutors failed to produce evidence to support allegations that the trio killed businessman Barrington "Bossy" Burton in 2011.
Kartel, whose real name is Adidja Palmer, has been in jail for about three years, but his songs are played widely and many young Jamaicans, especially those in the slums, consider him a hero.


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