buju trial begin

[Emperah]

Re: buju testify

He has his own label Gargamel music so it is possible he fishes deals for his company himself or is a hands on business man (in more ways den 1)

[neutral]

Re: buju testify

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dahJahPawtTwo</div><div class="ubbcode-body">He has his own label Gargamel music </div></div>

Maybe he was simply trying to extend his company to gargamelcocaine.com

[blugiant]

Re: buju testify

<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: blakkgiant</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

dat de rantinn aff intoxicated buju. infarmer got buju drunk ann buju chatt a latt aff nunsense. buju neva bought ar sold drugs accordinn to da investigator ann informant. buju neva finance annee drug deal accordinn to da investigator ann informant. noo proof dat buju eva profitted fram annee drug deal. da money dat dem canficated wass natt buju money. da case against buju rest pon de argument dat informant tricked buju to meet imm at de wharehouse wear buju introduced imm to a man dat later tried to do a drug deal.

buju iss wan aff dem showaff yaawd peeps wey brag fe bigg demselves up dat y imm such a good perfarmer </div></div>

Agree this may have been his first foray into the cocaine industry,but come on bigman,...to claim that an informer may have got him drunk,that is stretching the imagination somewhat.

However,I tend to agree that he is yet another yard showoff that is fond of bragging in order to impress yard people,which is all the more reason to see him as yet another false prophet who merely says and sings what he thinks will impress the jamaican market. </div></div>

natt strectinn da imagination. buju lawyers ask de informant iff dem tape recardinn wass wen buju wass intoxicated. dem even ave tape wey de informant cammented pon buju smokinn inn da resturant ann buju bragged dat imm smoke a lot aff weed.

yess mii agree widd yu dat buju chat ann sing ting to appeal to da market place. yaawd seyinn showaff bring dissgrace

[SmoothOperator]

Re: buju testify

The truth as I see it...Buju is not a drug dealer which is not to say he never financed drug deals in the past. I think he probably did in relation to 'soft drugs' like ganja but the cocaine thing that he now finds himself in hot water for was probably his first foray into hard drugs. Based on the testimony given by the shady snitch, Buju's involvement in drug deals in the past was probably sporadic rather than habitual and only involved putting up the money. Buju is lying when he says he is chatting the guy up because he thought the guy could introduce him to music industry contracts...why would he think that, did the guy ever introduce himself as an industry exec? The jury is going to have a hard time believing that when there are dozens of phone conversations between the two on the subject of drugs. Dumb move it would have been a better strategy for him to say he was just trash talking and it was just trash talk nothing more.

Still I don't see a basis for conviction if he did not put the money up, did not take possession of the drugs and appeared to be on the periphery of the conspiracy almost as if he was scoping things out to see how things went down for a future deal that he himself would finance. Win, lose or draw Buju comes off looking like a punk but people forget easily and if he gets off in a few months all will be forgiven and forgotten.

[blugiant]

Re: buju testify

He was a reggae icon who toured extensively throughout Europe and was considered the &quot;voice of Jamaica.&quot;

The other man was noticeably overweight and ran a frozen seafood business.

Yet reggae star Buju Banton felt the need to impress Alexander Johnson with talk of elaborate, million-dollar drug deals stretching the continents.

In the end it was all a lie, Banton said, a rivalry for superiority.

&quot;I was trying to impress this guy. I wasn't going to let him outtalk me,&quot; the musician told jurors during testimony in the third day of his federal drug trafficking trial Wednesday. &quot;That's what got me into this hot seat.&quot;

Johnson was a government informer who taped conversations with Banton discussing a variety of drug deals over five months, including shipping cocaine from Panama to Europe in crates with seafood. The informer was paid $50,000 in this case, according to testimony.

David Markus, Banton's defense attorney, painted a picture of Johnson as an aggressor who pursued Banton with phone calls and the illusion of friendship. Johnson would bring up cocaine and discuss how the men could do business together.

Markus pointed to a meeting at a Fort Lauderdale restaurant in July 2009 when Johnson brought up cocaine after having a two-hour meeting with Banton. The reggae star asked Johnson if he had any drug connections.

Banton said he wasn't taking the conversation seriously.

&quot;I was just talking straight up garbage,&quot; Banton said to jurors. &quot;I liked hanging out with Mr. Johnson. He could talk all he wanted to talk, but I wasn't going to engage in it.&quot;

Banton said the informer also misled him on occasion. On Dec. 8, Banton traveled to Sarasota to see Johnson, who had explained they would be looking at his boat. The men ended up instead at a warehouse where an undercover police officer presented the men with a kilo of cocaine.

&quot;I didn't know I was going to see any drugs,&quot; Banton said. &quot;And if I had known I was going to see drugs, I wouldn't have gone.&quot;

In the end, Ian Thomas, an associate of Banton's, agreed to do a drug deal with Johnson for 11 pounds of cocaine. Thomas has since taken a plea deal.

Assistant U.S. Attorney James Preston challenged Banton's argument.

&quot;How does someone naive know the prices of cocaine in different parts of the world?&quot; Preston asked, citing taped conversations where Banton quoted prices for cocaine.

At one point, Banton's voice rose. &quot;If I was a drug dealer, I would've taken the plea bargain you offered to me,&quot; he said to the prosecutor. &quot;But I'm taking a public flogging because I believe the truth must come out.&quot;

[blugiant]

Re: buju testify

Buju Banton, it seems, has a gaping, cavernous mineshaft of a hole to dig out of in federal court in Tampa: the feds have hours of taped conversations with the reggae star talking about cocaine, quoting detailed worldwide prices for cocaine, and even visiting a warehouse and sampling a few kilos of cocaine.

But the musician, who took the stand yesterday, says he was set up by the government's undercover source and has never dealt coke.&quot;I was trying to impress this guy. I wasn't going to let him outtalk me,&quot; the Tamarac-based musician said.

The Banton trial -- which is dominating headlines in Jamaica -- promises to be a strange day in court for some of the biggest names in reggae. Before Banton took the stand yesterday, Stephen Marley stepped up to talk up the singer's character.

&quot;(He is) the voice of the people,&quot; Marley said, adding that Banton had never mentioned drugs to him.

Banton was arrested back in December, after the warehouse meeting with what turned out to be a squad of undercover cops. It was the culmination of a five month relationship between the Banton and Alexander Johnson, prosecutors say, who plied the star on international flights and at restaurant meetings with talk of getting into the coke running business.

But Banton, on the stand, countered that he thought he was going to see boats at the warehouse in Sarasota. When he was presented with a kilo of coke by another undercover source, Banton said he had no choice but to play along.

&quot;I didn't know I was going to see any drugs,&quot; Banton said. &quot;And if I had known I was going to see drugs, I wouldn't have gone.&quot;

Still, the St. Pete Times does a fine job of carving up Banton's claims in the lede to its story: Johnson is a chubby seafood stand owner; Banton is a filthy rich international music star. Why, exactly, was he so desperate to impress Johnson that he'd play along with a cocaine deal?

We've been hard on Buju here at Riptide -- call us old fashioned, but we can't get behind someone who sings lustily about how &quot;there is no end to the war between me and [censored]&quot; and calls for shotgun blasts to the head for gays. (Then again, his album with Rancid back in the day was the jaaaam.)

[blugiant]

buju final witness

Ian Thomas, a co-defendant of jailed Reggae singer Buju Banton, is expected to be called to the witness stand this morning by lawyers representing the artiste.

He last week signed a plea deal and agreed to testify for the prosecution but on Monday when the trial began, lead prosecutor Jim Preston signalled to the court that the prosecution has no intention of calling Thomas to the stand.

BANTON... Final witness t testify on his behalf today.

Thomas and James Mack, who has also accepted a plea deal and opted not to give evidence of behalf of Banton in fear being given a harsher sentence, were arrested during a undercover drug operation at a police controlled warehouse in Saratoga, Tampa in December. They were attempting to purchase seven kilogrammes of cocaine from undercover police officers.

Thomas is expected to be the final witness called by the defence. After his testimony the defence and prosecution are expected to present their final arguments to the 14-member jury before Judge Jim Moody hands down his summation of the case.

All three are charged with attempting to possess with intent to distribute five or more kilogrammes of cocaine a charge which carries a minimum sentence of 20 years to life and a fine of up to US$4 million.

So far a Drug Enforcement Agent and a government informant have told the court that they had no concrete evidence that Banton was a drug dealer. The prosecution has however played audio and video footage which shows the artiste tasting cocaine in a Florida warehouse and making statements asking the informant Alexander Johnson, where he could acquire cocaine.

[RichD]

Re: buju final witness

buju goose cook

[Yuriatin]

Re: buju final witness

[RichD]

Re: buju final witness

maybe jail time will inspire him to write some good music

[blugiant]

Re: buju final witness

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RichD</div><div class="ubbcode-body">buju goose cook </div></div>

yu realized dat de prosecutor case iss based pon de credibilty aff de informant ann tapes aff buju bragginn. after awl dat investigation dem ave no eveedence dat buju eva brought, finance ar dealt drugs ann iff de two peeps dat actuallee brought de drugs doan testify de conspiracy allegation is weak at best. iff buju wass mzungu inn wood walk

[RichD]

Re: buju final witness

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: blakkgiant</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> iff buju wass mzungu inn wood walk </div></div>

him shooda start bleach...

[Yuriatin]

Re: buju final witness

This makes me think of Paris Hilton - who gets caught with weed &amp; coke in her purse every other month but yet, somehow has no problem whatsoever getting a slap on the wrist.

Whatever happened to the 3 strikes you're out law?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: blakkgiant</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RichD</div><div class="ubbcode-body">buju goose cook </div></div>

yu realized dat de prosecutor case iss based pon de credibilty aff de informant ann tapes aff buju bragginn. after awl dat investigation dem ave no eveedence dat buju eva brought, finance ar dealt drugs ann iff de two peeps dat actuallee brought de drugs doan testify de conspiracy allegation is weak at best. iff buju wass mzungu inn wood walk </div></div>

[Suesumba]

Re: buju final witness

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RichD</div><div class="ubbcode-body">maybe jail time will inspire him to write some good music </div></div>

or to think that maybe if he's talking about shipping coke in frozen fish and mr. johnson jumps up waves his hands and says &quot;i just happen to have a shipping company called FROZEN FISH&quot;, something might be amiss.

[Bizzy]

Re: buju final witness

de trial nuh just start....an it done already???