Since the announcement of Buju Banton's ten-year prison sentence last June, his lawyer David Markus had been saying they would appeal. It is now done: last Friday, appeal proceedings were officially launched.
In this appeal, Buju Banton's innocence is once again asserted: "In law and in fact, Myrie is neither guilty of conspiracy to distribute cocaine nor of aiding and abetting the use of a telephone to facilitate it".
The second argument put forward by the defence is that the government's efforts to implicate Buju Banton show a determination to entrap him, since he had not premeditated taking part in such a conspiracy.
Finally, the procedure allegedly was not respected, given that the trial was not conducted quickly enough, under the Speedy Trial Act, which guarantees defendants a "speedy and public" trial (the length of time after which a trial is no longer considered "speedy" is not specified in the amendment, however, and is left to the judges' discretion, editor's note). Buju Banton thus spent more than a year in pre-trial detention.
In an interview with the Gleaner, David Markus appeared confident: "We have made three arguments, and each of them is very strong and sufficient to justify dismissing the case. (…) We are very confident and optimistic. The appeal process is very difficult. We truly believe in his innocence and that is why we remain optimistic and positive".
David Markus has requested a hearing before three judges in order to develop his legal arguments. Only 10% of appeals get one. The Court of Appeals will or will not grant this hearing, and will then examine the appeal. A process that will take between one month and a year.
The more curious can read Buju's appeal filing (around sixty pages, in English).