Good news, attorney says of Shawn Storm’s reduced sentence

Bert Samuels, the attorney-at-law for entertainer Shawn ‘Shawn Storm’ Campbell, is experiencing some degree of satisfaction by the ruling handed down by the court, reducing by 30 months the date for his client’s eligibility for parole. Campbell’s mandatory sentence is now 22 years and six months.

“It is good news,” a very stoic-sounding Samuels told The Gleaner. But he was quick to reiterate his intention, which was clearly stated when Campbell’s appeal of his conviction was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on April 3. “However, we are now concentrating on pursuing the matter in the Privy Council.”

Samuels explained that his client and the other appellants, Adidja ‘Vybz Kartel’ Palmer, Kahira Jones and Andre St John, are being awarded the discounted time because it was due to them. “In the judgement, they asked for information pertaining to when the men were taken into custody, and that was supplied,” he said.

The two-page document from the court notes that, “In our judgment given in this matter on April 3, 2020, we concluded that, save in one respect, the sentences imposed by the judge in this case cannot be said to have been excessive to such an extent as to call for this court’s intervention. However, we considered that the judge may have erred in not giving any consideration to the question of any time spent by the appellants in custody pending trial. Accordingly, in order to address this issue, we deferred our decision on the appeals against sentence and required a brief note from counsel as to the time each appellant spent on remand, prior to sentencing.”

Period of imprisonment

The judges state that a note was received on April 9, 2020 from Tavares-Finson, QC, for and on behalf of the attorneys-at-law for all the appellants, and based on that, the adjustments were made against their respective sentences. The period of imprisonment to be served by each appellant – Campbell, Palmer, Jones and St John – before becoming eligible for parole, was reduced by two years and six months. “Accordingly, the times to be served before being eligible for parole shall be as follows: Mr Campbell – 22 years and six months; Mr Palmer – 32 years and six months; Mr Jones – 22 years and six months; Mr St John – 27 years and six months.”

The men were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams. The document states that all the sentences shall each be reckoned to have commenced on April 3, 2014.

Campbell is represented by Bert Samuels, Bianca Samuels, Dania Allen and Isat Buchanan.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com