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US prosecutors want Buju gun conviction restored
Published: Tuesday | February 14, 20120 Comments
United States prosecutors have scoffed at claims by attorneys representing convicted Jamaican dancehall superstar Buju Banton that he should be freed on appeal.
The prosecutors, <span style="font-style: italic">in documents filed Friday, have also asked the Appeal Court to overturn the ruling of the trial judge and <span style="font-weight: bold">find Buju guilty of the firearm charge</span></span>.
They argued that the lower court acted improperly in entering a judgment of acquittal after the jury had found him guilty.
"Because drugs and guns go together like peas and carrots, because a co-defendant's possession of a dangerous weapon is foreseeable to a defendant who knows that his venture involves a large amount of drugs and cash ... the evidence support the jury finding."
Lawyers representing Buju had filed an appeal asking the court to dismiss the charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and aiding and abetting others in using a communication facility in the commission of a felony.
Buju's lawyers had also based their appeal on what they said was the failure of the Court to give him a speedy trial and that he was entrapped by a highly paid State informer.
But in response the US prosecutors said sufficient evidence supported the jury's finding that Buju was guilty of conspiring to acquire cocaine.
Turning to the appeal on the basis of entrapment, the prosecutors argued that the evidence established that Buju was predisposed to engage in drug transactions.
Valid entrapment
According to the prosecutors, "a valid entrapment defence requires ... (1) government inducement of the crime and (2) defendants lack of predisposition to commit the crime prior to inducement".
The prosecutors brushed aside the claim that the Speedy Trial Act was violated because of the delay in starting the case.
The argued that no time had elapsed on the speedy trial clock before the start of the first trial on September 20, 2010 because all the delays were due to "pending motions and continuances in the ends of justice".
Both the defence and the prosecutors have requested that the Appeal Court allows them to present oral arguments before ruling on the case.
Buju was found guilty in February 2011 and is now in a Federal prison serving a 10-year sentence.
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