buju trial begin

[sagal]

Re:Prosecutor plays damning recordings at Buju trial...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: seemiyah</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-style: italic">Myrie was also heard asking Johnson if he had any contacts to acquire cocaine as he was willing to finance a deal. <span style="font-weight: bold">He also told Johnson that he did not have contacts in Venezuela and Panama but that he was involved in smuggling diamonds from Africa to Europe.</span> </span>

Huh? So much tings him into? </div></div>

Blood Diamonds.....oh God

[Derek]

Re: Confirmed: 14 member jury selected for Buju Banton trial - (Observer) A 14 member panel of jurors wa...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jah_yout</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Derek</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sagal</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> only two African Americans </div></div>

Most of them don't like us anyway. </div></div>


the general public already thinks anyone with dreadlocks has a 97% chance of being a drug dealer </div></div>

Or the general public already thinks anyone who is a drug dealer has a 97% chance of having dreadlocks?

[Yuriatin]

Re: Confirmed: The second co-defendant in the case against Int'l Reggae singer Buju Banton, today agreed...

Brah man bein' set up.

Not right.

[Panajar]

Re: Confirmed: 14 member jury selected for Buju Banton trial - (Observer) A 14 member panel of jurors wa...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Derek</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sagal</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> only two African Americans </div></div>

Most of them don't like us anyway. </div></div>

Totally idiotic statement ,do you live and work with African Americans? BLACK FOLKS ONCE AGAIN PROPAGATION DIVISIVE ARGUMENTS AGAINST THEIR FELLOW DESCENTS OF SLAVES.

[blugiant]

Re: buju trial

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jah_yout</div><div class="ubbcode-body">hopefully no jamaicans on the jury

so many of them have already found him guilty &amp; convicted him </div></div>

sah even mii ave prablem widd da allegation dat imm invalved widd tryinn fe distreebute 5 keys aff cocaine even dough imm wass entrapped. iff itt wass natural ting, mii wood defend imm

[blugiant]

Re: buju trial begin

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SmoothOperator</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Well the Gleaner have a different spin including one section where the prosecutor play a tape where Buju is heard saying &quot;Do you have any contacts where I can get cocaine?&quot;. Apparently the Gleaner not &quot;Buju Friendly&quot; whereas the Observer is since the Gleaner leave out the favourable testimony whereas the Observer include it.

Anyway not sure what the list of charges is but I wonder if plea bargaining to a lesser charge was not an option ....such as acquiring for personal use...because it is the distribution charge that could put him in prison for a long time.


Gleaner story:

http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=22737

Buju clean up good for him trial:
</div></div>

plea bargaininn ting iss tricky. mii look upp da judge inn buju case ann imm throw out sum wan plea bargaininn deal ann gave de parsan de harsher sentence

the charges as mii ovatand dem ar

Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Cocaine

Possession of a Firearm

buju faces life sentence iff convicted

de case against buju iss dat im mett da informant inn furst class ann buju started fe chatt bout jug dealinn widdout beinn prodded fram a parsan woo ave been paid 3.3 million fe set upp addar peeps.

natt sure de case gainst buju was dat strang dat iss y dem plea bargain de addar twoo widd buju fe testify against buju fe strenghten dem case

[blugiant]

Re: buju trial begin

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Natral</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SmoothOperator</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

Anyway not sure what the list of charges is but I wonder if plea bargaining to a lesser charge was not an option ....such as acquiring for personal use...because it is the distribution charge that could put him in prison for a long time.


</div></div>

Whatever charges he admits to I think it's fair to say he will get some prison time,let us hope that those horrible mean looking tattoed fellows in prison doesnt take a shine to him,he could be coming out singing boom bye bye in a very high pitched voice. </div></div>

great pint nuetral. mii wandar iff imm lawyer made sure da members aff de jury straight cah wii knoo dat funnee peeps doan like buju cah aff de chune boom bye bye

boom bye bye iss mii favarate chune

[SmoothOperator]

Re: buju trial begin

I am not a lawyer but this sounds like a positive for Buju. He did not finance the drug deal that went sour, nor did he take possession of the drugs per the latest from the Observer. He was at the scene of the crime though and tasted the cocaine. Kinda like he tasted it but did not inhale. I am not really sure what the case in relation to him is about then. Not sure how you can be hitting someone with conspiracy to distribute if he was not the one putting up the money but just standing there almost as an onlooker. Still Buju's talk shows that his intentions were not good but that is a moral issue not a legal one.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Informant-says-Buju-never-invested-in-drug

[blugiant]

Re: buju trial begin

Alexander Johnson, the United States informant assisting prosecutors to seal a conviction against Reggae artiste, this afternoon testified that Buju Banton never entered into any drug deal with him.

Johnson, a Colombian national who had served three years for a drug offense, made the revelation under cross-examination from Banton's attorney David Markus.

Buju Banton... damning recordings played during trial today

<span style="font-weight: bold">He said Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, never sold or bought drugs and had never wired any money to him to invest in the illicit trade.

Johnson also admitted that Banton had never purchased any cocaine in Panama or Colombia and that their dealings never went beyond talk.</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">The informant did not readily answer when Markus asked if Myrie had stopped taking his calls in December last year.

&quot;Didn't Ian Thomas tell you that he (Myrie) does not want to do anything man? Talk to me. He said that's not him, he is about music, he eats and sleeps the music?&quot; Markus asked to which Johnson replied yes.</span>

Johnson also told the court that he had no knowledge that Myrie had financed the deal that went sour in the police controlled warehouse in Saratoga, Florida when Myrie's co-defendants, Ian Thomas and James Mack were arrested attempting to purchase cocaine from Drug Enforcement agents.

Earlier the prosecution played a video recording of Myrie tasting the contraband in December last year. The footage showed the artiste, Thomas and an undercover cop at a location in Sarasota. A kilogramme of the drug was produced by the cop and Thomas used a knife to cut it open and Myrie used his finger to wipe the knife and sampled the cocaine.

Thomas described the drug as 'fish scale' a term Johnson explained to mean high quality. While the footage was being showed some of Banton's fans appeared disappointed while others watched with keen interest.

Johnson also testified that during a meeting Thomas informed him that he had a contact in Georgia with drug connections and that he (Thomas) would be the person who would be doing business.

Markus is expected to continue cross-examining Johnson when the trial resumes tomorrow morning.

[Derek]

Re: Confirmed: 14 member jury selected for Buju Banton trial - (Observer) A 14 member panel of jurors wa...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Panajar</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Derek</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sagal</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> only two African Americans </div></div>

Most of them don't like us anyway. </div></div>

Totally idiotic statement ,do you live and work with African Americans? BLACK FOLKS ONCE AGAIN PROPAGATION DIVISIVE ARGUMENTS AGAINST THEIR FELLOW DESCENTS OF SLAVES. </div></div>

Shut up. I've met enough of them to form a personal opinion.
<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-size: 11pt">And you're not and never will be, hard enough to bax me down</span></span>.

[Wahalla]

Re: Confirmed: 14 member jury selected for Buju Banton trial - (Observer) A 14 member panel of jurors wa...

Let me be clare and unabigous in my support for Buju..

1) All drugs should be legal... user beware!
2) He is innocent.. Till proven guilty
3) If he is proven innocent then hios record sales will increase and he has to pay more tax in Jamaica..

I find his music irritating and there is a misma or reoumour around his past behaviour.. But he is not on trial for past misendeavours....So he tasted a little coke ? who hasnt ???? He tasted it he did not sniff the stuff! Half tje population of south america chews merrily away on coaca leaf.. so you treat coca leaves with petrol and Acid whats the big deal?????

[blugiant]

setback for buju

The defence in the Buju Banton trial suffered a minor setback this morning when a possible witness pleaded the Fifth Amendment, deciding not to testify on behalf of the Jamaican singer.

The defence had requested that James Mack, Buju's former co-accused, give evidence for him, but Mack, fearful that he might jeopardise his chances of getting a lighter sentence, opted not to.

American law allows a witness to refuse to testify under oath on the ground that the answers could be used as evidence by prosecutors seeking to convict the witness for a criminal offence

Mack was arrested in December 2009 the same day that Buju, whose given name is Mark Myrie, was arrested and slapped with cocaine charges.

He recently copped a plead deal for a lighter sentence. Also arrested along with Mack in a sting operation was Ian Thomas, who also copped a plea deal. Both men will be sentenced in November.

Reacting to the development, Buju's lawyer David Markus expressed some disappointment as he spoke with the Observer.

&quot;He would have helped,&quot; Markus said.

Meanwhile, Markus continued his grilling of Alexander Johnson, the prosecution's main witness.

Markus, with his line of questioning painted a picture of a man who was in financial debt and was pushing to entrap Buju because of the money he stood to earn from the case, if the entertainer was arrested.

The court was told that Johnson was behind on his credit card bills, mortgage payment and owed the US government over $100,000 in taxes.

Markus pointed out from transcripts of Johnson's recorded conversations with Buju, that he was the one constantly bringing up talks of drugs and that the entertainer was not interested.

Johnson also said that he did not inform Buju that he was going to look at drugs on December 8 when the entertainer was caught on tape tasting the cocaine. He said the artiste was under the impression that he was going to see a sailboat he (Johnson) owned.

Buju was arrested at his home at Tamarac, South Florida hours after his former co-accused Thomas and Mack, were arrested during an alleged drug bust in an undercover operation at a warehouse in Sarasota, Florida in December last year.

All three were charged with conspiracy to possess more than five kilogrammes of cocaine with intent to distribute, while Mack was charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offence.

The drug charge carries a minimum sentence of 20 years to life in addition to a fine of up to US$4 million, while the firearm charge carries a sentence of five years to life and a fine of up to US$250,000.

Both Mack and Thomas, in their plea deals, have agreed to give evidence to assist the US Government in building a case against Banton, in exchange for lesser sentences.

[blugiant]

Re: setback for buju

fimi take aff de trial so far

afta wan cancert, buju met johnson (de informant ) on a fligh. shortly afta meetinn de informant pon de plane buju started fee chatt bout imm waan fee mekk money financinn cocaine deals wild de informant started fe recard de conversation. veree canvient fe da informant dat imm wass prepared fe recard buju ann itt badd fe buju dat imm luv bigg imself upp bye bragginn. da moas damninn eveedence against buju iss da recardings even dough afta investigation noo eveedence fe bakk upp buju alleged drug dealinn

buju stapp chattinn to da infarmer butt de infarmer wass persistent inn cawlinn buju tryinn fe set upp deal so da informant cood gitt paid. buju ann two addar men went to wan meetinn wey buju sample cocaine ann introduce imm friends to da informant. itt iss dat buju introduce wan aff imm friend to da man dat iss de basis aff de conspiracee charge against buju. conspiracee iss basicallee twoo ar mor peeps discussinn committinn crime. to be cantinued



investigation aff buju neva find annee proof dat buju sell ar buy jugs dat y investigator ann informant sed dem neva ave annee eveedence aff buju sellinn ar buyinn jugs

[Suesumba]

Re:Prosecutor plays damning recordings at Buju trial...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: seemiyah</div><div class="ubbcode-body">[i]
Huh? So much tings him into? </div></div>

di man have 15 pickney fi sen goh a school

[f0rTyLeGz]

Re:Prosecutor plays damning recordings at Buju trial...

Shouldn't this tread be moved to Music @ Art?