Buju News from Breaking News Forum

[onthegroundnewsreports]

<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Buju Banton was an established drug traf... Buju Banton...</span>
Buju Banton was an established drug trafficker says US Gov't - (AP) Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton was an established drug trafficker before the singer allegedly tried to buy cocaine from an undercover officer in Florida last year, attorneys for the U.S. government said Monday at the beginning of Banton's drug trial...
http://www.facebook.com/notes/on-the-gro...142850619091501
http://www.facebook.com/notes/on-the-gro...142850619091501

[Blackstar*]

Re: Buju Banton was an established drug trafficker says US Gov't - (AP) Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton...

I find that hard to believe.

[onthegroundnewsreports]

Confirmed: Prosecution plays damning records in Buju Banton trial - (Observer)

The prosecution in t...

<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Confirmed: Prosecution plays damning rec...ecution in t...</span>
Confirmed: Prosecution plays damning records in Buju Banton trial - (Observer)

The prosecution in the drug trial of international artiste Buju Banton called its main witness to the stand this morning as the second day of the proceedings got underway in Tampa USA.
Alexander Johnson, the Colombian informant who is assisting in trying to secure a conviction against the artiste, testified that he met Banton on a flight from Madrid, Spain to Miami Florida. The flight lasted eight hours, Johnson said, and a conversation about drug dealing come up within an hour.The prosecution then played recordings where Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, was heard telling Johnson, &quot;I am about making money, straight up' and &quot;I have 15 children to send to school&quot;.
Myrie was also heard asking Johnson if he had any contacts to acquire cocaine as he was willing to finance a deal. He also told Johnson that he did not have contacts in Venezuela and Panama but that he was involved in smuggling drugs from Africa to Europe.
He was also heard telling Johnson that &quot;It would be good to have our own contacts. I would like to start small with five keys as I don't want to take any risks&quot;. The artiste also warned the informant that he should stay away from a man known as Lloyd Evans as &quot;There are a lot of snitches in the game&quot;.
See link below to view full article.

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=440&amp;uid=124361237591258

[onthegroundnewsreports]

Tapes hurt Buju - Damaging testimony against J'can artiste TAMPA, USA -- Defence attorney David Mar...

<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Tapes hurt Buju - Damaging testimony aga...ey David Mar...</span>
Tapes hurt Buju - Damaging testimony against J'can artiste TAMPA, USA -- Defence attorney David Markus slung his arms across the shoulders of his lanky Reggae superstar client 'Buju Banton' at the end of the morning session of his cocaine trial at the Gibbons US Court here yesterday. The ...
http://www.facebook.com/notes/on-the-gro...143139729062590

[onthegroundnewsreports]

Confirmed: Witness in Buju Banton's defence pleads the fifth - (Observer) The defence in the Buju Ba...

<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Confirmed: Witness in Buju Banton's defe... the Buju Ba...</span>
Confirmed: Witness in Buju Banton's defence pleads the fifth - (Observer) 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...
http://www.facebook.com/notes/on-the-gro...143188899057673

[onthegroundnewsreports]

Confirmed: Buju Banton not told about drugs at warehouse On the day Buju Banton was filmed in a Flor...

<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Confirmed: Buju Banton not told about dr...ed in a Flor...</span>
Confirmed: Buju Banton not told about drugs at warehouse On the day Buju Banton was filmed in a Florida warehouse filled with cocaine last December; he did not know he was going there to see drugs...
http://www.facebook.com/notes/on-the-gro...143202325722997
http://www.facebook.com/notes/on-the-gro...143202325722997

[onthegroundnewsreports]

Confirmed: Bob Marley's son testifies in Buju's defence - (St Petersburg Times)

Stephen Marley, the...

<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Confirmed: Bob Marley's son testifies in... Marley, the...</span>
Confirmed: Bob Marley's son testifies in Buju's defence - (St Petersburg Times)

Stephen Marley, the son of reggae legend Bob Marley, testified as a character witness for Buju Banton today in Tampa, calling the acclaimed singer &quot;the voice of the people'' who never talked about drugs.
Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, is on trial in federal court in Tampa on drug conspiracy charges. Both grew up in Jamaica and have collaborated on music. Marley said he has known Banton for 20 years.

Defense attorney David Markus asked Marley whether he ever heard Banton discuss drugs.
&quot;No, no,&quot; Marley said. &quot;Never.&quot;
Marley called Banton &quot;the voice of Jamaica,&quot; noting that his music is ingrained in the nation's culture.
&quot;That sums it up,&quot; he said. &quot;What Banton means to us. He is the voice of the people.&quot;
Banton has earned four Grammy nominations since his debut album in 1992.
He is considered one of reggae's elite stars, with his 1995 album Til Shiloh garnering a spot among Rolling Stone's &quot;Essential Recordings of the '90s.&quot;

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=444&amp;uid=124361237591258

[onthegroundnewsreports]

Confirmed: Buju Banton testifies in drug conspiracy trial in Tampa - (AP)

#Jamaican reggae star Buj...

<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Confirmed: Buju Banton testifies in drug...gae star Buj...</span>
Confirmed: Buju Banton testifies in drug conspiracy trial in Tampa - (AP)

#Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton says he talked a lot about drugs with a U.S. government informant, but that doesn't make him a drug dealer.
Banton is on trial in Florida on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and aiding and abetting two others in possessing a firearm during the course of distribution.

The singer testified today that the informant he met on a plane last summer initiated their conversations about drugs. Banton said he made up ambitions to deal cocaine to impress the informant, who he believed would introduce him to music industry contacts. Banton said he was surprised when the informant presented him with cocaine at a Sarasota warehouse in December, a meeting captured on video.

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[onthegroundnewsreports]

Confirmed: Buju Banton defence rests case now awaiting jury verdict - (RJR) The drug conspiracy case...

<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Confirmed: Buju Banton defence rests cas...spiracy case...</span>
Confirmed: Buju Banton defence rests case now awaiting jury verdict - (RJR) The drug conspiracy case against Jamaican entertainer Buju Banton has been sent to a 14 member jury for deliberations...
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[onthegroundnewsreports]

Confirmed: A federal jury is expected to reconvene at 8:30am this morning in the drug conspiracy tri...

<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Confirmed: A federal jury is expected to...nspiracy tri...</span>
Confirmed: A federal jury is expected to reconvene at 8:30am this morning in the drug conspiracy trial against #Jamaican reggae artiste Buju Banton in a Florida, USA federal court. Buju faces up to life in prison if convicted.

[onthegroundnewsreports]

Confirmed: The Jury in the drugs conspiracy case against Buju Banton has still not reached a verdict...

<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Confirmed: The Jury in the drugs conspir...ed a verdict...</span>
Confirmed: The Jury in the drugs conspiracy case against Buju Banton has still not reached a verdict and will reconvene on Monday September 27 in the Miami Federal Court..

[onthegroundnewsreports]

Confirmed: A small group of demonstrators gathered this morning in Half Way Tree led by dancehall ar...

<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Confirmed: A small group of demonstrator...dancehall ar...</span>
Confirmed: A small group of demonstrators gathered this morning in Half Way Tree led by dancehall artiste La Lewis, calling for the release of Buju Banton, who is on trial in Tampa, Florida. Photo credit: Russell Polack.

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[onthegroundnewsreports]

Confirmed: Buju Banton's drug trial the talk of #Jamaica - (AP)

The U.S. drug trial of reggae star ...

<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Confirmed: Buju Banton's drug trial the ...reggae star ...</span>
Confirmed: Buju Banton's drug trial the talk of #Jamaica - (AP)

The U.S. drug trial of reggae star Buju Banton is the talk of Jamaica, where islanders are debating his guilt or innocence on street corners, in offices, in letters to the editor and on social networking websites.

Banton, a four-time Grammy nominee who rose from the slums of Kingston to success in the 1990s, was arrested on federal drug charges in December and a Florida jury is deliberating whether he conspired to buy cocaine from an undercover police officer.
The 12-person panel reconvenes Monday in Tampa federal court.

In the Jamaican capital, some people are dissecting every detail of Banton's case, a few even comparing him to the late reggae legend Bob Marley.

&quot;I've been following it close because Buju is big in Jamaica, like a Bob Marley. Way I see it, they need to free the man cause they don't have any concrete evidence against him,&quot; Charles Barrett, a resident of the capital, said Sunday.

For others the case is more of a curiosity, a media-fed sensation that distracts from weightier news.
His most ardent fans are talking of conspiracy theories - that he was framed by the U.S. government or gay activists who have protested violent, homophobic lyrics from early in Banton's career as a brash dancehall singer.
&quot;We all know it was a government set up. Just because of your beliefs they want to imprison you,&quot; wrote a person identified as R. Johnson on a Web page titled &quot;Free Buju Banton.&quot;

The husky-voiced Rastafarian singer has long been a star in his homeland with the brash reggae-rap hybrid of dancehall music and, more recently, a traditional reggae sound.

&quot;He's a major, major figure here, so his trial has dominated the media and people's conversations,&quot; Jamaican musicologist and disc jockey Bunny Goodison said. &quot;He's been extremely important through the years because he's represented Rastafari and black consciousness in a very focused way.&quot;

On Friday, a false story that Banton had been found innocent was broadcast on an island radio station. Tumultuous applause broke out at an elite prep school when the rumor was announced as fact on the public address system.
People across Kingston spread the false bulletin on Facebook and Twitter.

&quot;The best illustration of Buju's importance is the broad sympathy for him and the desire for his release,&quot; said Carolyn Cooper, a professor of literary and cultural studies at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies.

Others are far less sympathetic to the 37-year-old entertainer, whose real name is Mark Myrie.

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=465&amp;uid=124361237591258

[onthegroundnewsreports]

Confirmed: Buju likely to be convicted on conspiracy charges says Lawyer - (Gleaner)

A US based law...

<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Confirmed: Buju likely to be convicted o...US based law...</span>
Confirmed: Buju likely to be convicted on conspiracy charges says Lawyer - (Gleaner)

A US based law professor says Buju Banton is likely to be convicted on drug conspiracy charges to possess and distribute cocaine.
In an interview with The Gleaner Attorney-at-Law David Rowe says if the jury fails to reach a verdict, it is likely that the judge will hand them an Allen charge.
An Allen charge is a special jury instruction that requires the jury to resolve their differences through more efficient deliberations.

Rowe says a mistrial will be declared if no verdict is reached after two Allen charges.

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=466&amp;uid=124361237591258

[onthegroundnewsreports]

Confirmed: Today the jury in Buju Banton's court case will continue deliberations on a verdict. The ...

<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Confirmed: Today the jury in Buju Banton...erdict. The ...</span>
Confirmed: Today the jury in Buju Banton's court case will continue deliberations on a verdict. The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict as at last Friday.
OGNR has received a transcript of audio recordings used as evidence during the court proceedings and is a major part of the prosecutors case.

&quot;Transcripts of audio recording of meeting with CS and Mark Myrie&quot;

http://www.tampabay.com/specials/2010/PDFs/banton.pdf

http://www.tampabay.com/specials/2010/PDFs/banton.pdf