His lawyer was confident, but the US prosecutors have not changed their line on Buju Banton. The appeal launched by his legal team (news of 19/12/2011) looks to be off to a bad start, judging by the Department of Justice's response, reported by the news agency Associated Press.
Despite the 10 arguments put forward (notably the length of the trial and the idea of entrapment by the FBI informant), the prosecutors stated last Friday that a body of evidence (the telephone recordings and the video in the warehouse where Buju samples the cocaine) supported the jury's conviction of Buju Banton for conspiracy and drug trafficking and established his predisposition to engage in it. A predisposition which, in their view, invalidates the entrapment argument.
On the argument about the length of the trial, the prosecutors replied that the time "lost" during the trial was due to the many motions and extensions, and that they wished to investigate the lawyer of one of the co-defendants.
Worse, the deejay could see the firearm possession charge return, on which he had been acquitted at his trial. It would support the jury's verdict "because firearms and drugs go together like peas and carrots, because a co-defendant's possession of a firearm is foreseeable by the defendant, who knows that his business involves a large quantity of drugs and money".
Both parties have asked to be heard by the Court of Appeals before it hands down its ruling. Buju and his lawyers now have 30 days to respond to the government and to the firearm possession charge. The Atlanta Court of Appeals will re-examine the case, but it could be a year before a decision is made.