Judge to order search of former juror's hard drive in Buju Banton case

A Florida federal judge is to order a juror to hand over her computer hard drive for a forensic search by an expert as international reggae star Buju Banton seeks a new trial. 

The matter came up in court yesterday. According to the Tampa Bay Times, US District Court Judge James Moody said he would allow a defense computer forensics expert to make a copy of the hard drive belonging to Terri Wright, who was the jury foreman at the trial. 

Buju’s attorneys are accusing Wright of violating court rules when she alleged researched information on the Jamaican entertainer during the trial. The judge reportedly ordered that the expert could only release information about the alleged research to attorneys and that all other material should be kept private. 

Wright has denied the allegation saying she conducted research only after the case had ended. Buju’s attorneys want his 2011 drug conviction to be overturned and a retrial ordered. Buju, whose real name is Mark Myrie, is serving a 10-year prison term on his drug conviction.

Source: http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=42991

Buju trial to resume on Tuesday - No verdict yet

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Buju-trial-to-resume-on-Tuesday


FLORIDA, USA – Jurors in the Buju Banton trial will resume deliberations on Tuesday after failing to reach a verdict today. Monday is a public holiday in the United States.
At 9:37 this morning Judge Jim Moody handed over the case to the jurors after spending more than an-half-hour addressing them on the law in relation to the charges against Banton.
The artiste appeared a bit more relaxed than he did this morning while heading to court.
Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, has been on trial in the Sam M Gibbons Federal Court since Monday on charges of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine; attempted possession with the intent to distribute cocaine; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offence; and using the wires to facilitate a drug trafficking offence.

The jurors were instructed to consider each charge separately.
In instructing the jurors, Moody said in order to reach a guilty verdict they all had to find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was a willing participant in a conspiracy, among other things. Regarding the firearm charge Moody said that the defendant had to knowingly possessed the firearm during the furtherance of a drug trafficking crime to be convicted.

The gun for which Banton has been charged was found in the car of a James Mack on December 10, 2009 during a drug sting operation. Banton was not on the scene when Mack was arrested and the gun found. The prosecution is contending that Banton, Mack and Ian Thomas conspired to possess and distribute the cocaine. Banton was arrested hours later at his Florida home.

Tense wait for Buju - Judge to hand case to jurors today

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Tense-wait-for-Buju


We have faith, says entertainer’s lawyer
Friday, February 18, 2011

Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton (left) talks with his lawyer David Oscar Markus following yesterday’s hearing of his drug case at the Sam M Gibbons Federal Court in Tampa, Florida. (Photo: Paul Henry)

 
FLORIDA, USA — The crushing and nail-biting wait is expected to begin today as Judge James Moody hands the case over to the 12 jurors who are to determine the fate of Grammy-winning reggae artiste Buju Banton.
Yesterday, the weight of uncertainty and anxiety was evident on the supporters and relatives of the artiste, who could be imprisoned for 20 years if found guilty.
 
Those attending the sitting of the retrial at the Sam M Gibbons Federal Court in Tampa were transfixed during closing arguments of defence attorney David Oscar Markus and prosecutor Jim Preston. Some sat nervously, while others prayed during the proceedings.
Judge Moody will today instruct the jurors in relation to the law before handing the case over to them.
“We are praying,” Markus told the Observer after court. “We have faith. I know in my heart that Buju did not commit a crime.”
During his closing argument, Preston told the jurors that Banton (real name Mark Myrie) was guilty as charged and asked them to return a like verdict.
“This is not about Mark Myrie the entertainer; it is about Mark Myrie the drug dealer,” Preston told the jurors.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Preston added, while standing, fingers jabbing in Banton’s direction, “I ask you to return to this courtroom with confidence and look at the defendant a say to him, Mr Myrie you are guilty as charged.”
But in his dramatic closing argument, Markus quoted from the book To Kill a Mockingbird, telling the jurors, “Please, ladies and gentlemen, please find Mark Myrie not guilty.”
Markus called the gun and wire charge against his client absurd, noting that it showed how desperate the prosecution was in wanting to convict the Grammy-winning artiste.
But in his response Preston said it was the defence who was desperate, skirting damaging information, directing the jurors to look at a tree instead of the whole forest. He said that Banton was in his present predicament because of his own desire to deal in drugs.
Banton’s first trial ended in a hung jury last year September when a jury of 12 failed to reach a verdict following roughly three days of deliberation.
The artiste has been on trial since Monday of charges of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine; attempted possession with the intent to distribute cocaine; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offence; and using the wires to facilitate a drug trafficking offence.
He was arrested on December 10, 2009 as part of a sting operation. His arrest came hours after his long-time friend Ian Thomas and James Mack was held in a drug bust.
Earlier yesterday, Preston presented telephone records, showing that, contrary to what Banton had said previously, he did in fact call government informant Alexander Johnson.
In his closing, Preston said Banton’s attorney had skirted the record. But Markus said the record was not clear as to who called whom.
Also yesterday, Banton apologised to the jurors for his outburst under a severe grilling from Preston, adding that it was another example of mouth getting him into trouble.
Banton also denied suggestions by Preston that he was broke and needed money. Preston had said that Banton was in a financial bind, which motivated him to seek Johnson’s assistance to enlarge his drug-running empire.
And Moody denied an application by Markus to have Mack give evidence. Mack had pleaded the Fifth Amendment. Moody also said that Mack’s affidavit asserting that he did not know Banton was hearsay and could not be used in court.

I'm fighting, says Buju after tough 2nd day

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/I-m-fighting--says-Buju-after-tough-2nd-day_8378295


TAMPA, USA — "I am fighting," said embattled Jamaican reggae artiste Buju Banton as he hustled to his hotel hounded by reporters following what could be described as a tough second day in the Sam M Gibbons Federal Court in this Florida city where he is being retried on drugs and gun-related charges.
Banton refused to comment on the case as he pushed a stroller a few blocks from the court to his hotel being chased by reporters and photographers.

Jamaican reggae artiste Buju Banton, flanked by his lawyer David Oscar Markus (right), waves to journalists as he leaves the Sam M Gibbons Federal Court in Tampa, Florida yesterday afternoon after the adjournment of day 2 of his retrial on drug and gun charges. Banton is pushing a stroller occupied by the baby of his manager, Traci McGregor (2nd right). (Photo: Paul Henry)

Moments after court adjourned yesterday, Banton's attorney David Oscar Markus said they were in the middle of a battle which they intended to win.
The unfolding of that battle continued yesterday with prosecutor James Preston showing jurors footage from a sting operation which captured Banton tasting cocaine from a knife used by his long-time friend Ian Thomas to cut into a parcel of the illicit substance on December 8, 2009.
The prosecution also continued playing for jurors audio recordings of what appeared to be Banton making a cocaine deal with Government informant Alexander Johnson, on August 1, 2009.
But the defence stormed into the battle minutes after 2:00 pm when Markus finally got his chance at Johnson, the prosecution's main witness.
Markus wasted no time in tearing into Johnson, depicting him as a financially troubled man who saw Banton as an opportunity to get out of his mortgage debt and to make money to clear his tax arrears, noting that Johnson has also filed for bankruptcy.
It was brought out in court that Johnson was paid US$50,000 for the role he played leading to Banton's arrest on December 10, 2009. During his work for the Government as an informer from 1996, Johnson said he has earned over US$3.3 million, more than what he had made during his time transporting thousands of killogrammes of cocaine in the United States from the 1980s to 1996 when he was arrested.
Johnson, jurors were told, is usually paid 15 to 20 per cent of the money seized from drug arrests in which he plays a role.
Yesterday, Markus suggested that it was this need for money that drove Johnson to hound Buju and his insistence that both men meet to concretise their drug talks. Reading from the transcripts of the recorded conversation between both men, Markus pointed out that it was Johnson who kept bringing up cocaine when he spoke with the Jamaican artiste.
Johnson, however, said he was doing his job and told the court that this was how he made a living.
Johnson gave evidence early yesterday morning that both men met on a plane on July 2009 on a flight from Madrid, Spain to Florida and that Buju brought up drugs when he heard that he was a Colombian. But under cross-examination from Markus later in the day, Johnson said he was the one who brought up drugs in the conversation.
Johnson also said in his examination-in-chief that the men met the following day to discuss drug ventures.
But under grilling from Markus, it was brought out that it was Johnson who brought up the argument of drugs some two hours into the conversation and after both men where drinking heavily.
Banton is facing charges of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine; attempted possession with the intent to distribute cocaine; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offence; and using the wires to facilitate a drug-trafficking offence.
The artiste, whose real name is Mark Anthony Myrie, was arrested on December 10, 2009 following the arrest of Thomas and James Mack.
Johnson said yesterday that Buju had introduced him to Thomas, who then introduced him to Mack to wrap up their drug deal.
Mack and Thomas were arrested after Mack brought $135,000 to an undercover warehouse to purchase drugs from undercover cops. The gun for which Buju has been charged was in Mack's possession.

Buju's War

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110216/lead/lead1.html

Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter
Tampa, Florida

Buju Banton whispers to his attorney David Oscar Markus as the two leave United States Middle District Court, Florida Division, in Tampa yesterday. - photo by daraine luton

Reggae superstar Buju Banton, who is preparing to take the stand in his defence, has declared he is "at war" and is vowing to keep "fighting" the drug charges against him.

The 37-year-old singer, who is on trial at the United States Middle District Court, Florida Division in Tampa, whispered in his attorney David Oscar Markus's ear as they walked from court and then declared aloud, "Mi just a remind you, because mi know seh yuh a go in di war room."

At the end of proceedings yesterday, Alexander Johnson, the informant called by the United States government to testify, was on the stand. The US government has alleged that Buju, whose real name is Mark Myrie, was a broker in a major drug deal.

Jim Preston, who is leading the government's case, has said Buju, through his long-time friend Ian Thomas, conspired to buy more than seven kilograms of cocaine from undercover law-enforcement agents. The drug was sourced by Johnson and was intended to be sold to two drug barons in Georgia named Ike and Tyke.

Markus, though, painted Johnson as a greedy, bankrupt man who exploited Buju's friendship in order to set him up. Johnson has admitted, under cross-examination from Markus, that although Buju appeared to be avoiding his calls, he had a bigger motivation to get the reggae superstar to talk about cocaine deals.

"If he does not take the calls, I call him … . That is what I do," he said.

Johnson, who would still be behind bars had it not been for a plea deal he struck two and a half years into his 21-year sentence for cocaine trafficking, has made US$3.3 million from being an informant. He has so far made more than US$50,000 in the Buju case and has admitted that being an informer earns him more money than drug trafficking.

"This is what I do," he insisted on the stand.

Asked why he continued calling Buju after the singer shunned his invitations for a meeting for five months between July and November 2009, Johnson said he did not get any instructions from the Drug Enforcement Administration that the case was over.

He said when he was unable to pin down Buju for appointments to discuss drug deals, "I said I would leave him alone for a while."

Johnson also noted that, since the case was still open, he had to keep pursuing it until he was told to stop.

Contradicting himself

Meanwhile, Johnson appeared to have contradicted himself on the stand when he spoke about how cocaine-related conversations first took place while both were seated in the business-class section of a flight from Madrid, Spain, to Miami.

Only hours after telling Preston that it was Buju who brought up the conversation about cocaine, Johnson, under cross-examination from Markus, changed his story.

During examination in chief from Preston, Johnson said Buju brought up the issue of cocaine when he found out that he was a Colombian.

"After he learnt that I was Colombian, he moved on to have his own idea that I was involved in drug trafficking," Johnson said.

However, under cross-examination, Johnson said he was the one who told Buju that he knew a Jamaican who was involved in drug trafficking and Buju said the man was a snitch.

Markus pointed out that on every occasion that the matter of cocaine came up, it was Johnson who raised it. He also stressed to the jury that Buju has not been charged with tasting cocaine, an act he was video-recorded doing in a warehouse.

On the way to the warehouse on December 8, two days before Buju was arrested, the superstar thanked the informer for setting up the deal.

"You have given me the opportunity to make myself again," Buju said to Johnson in an audio recording.

He complained to the informant that he did not make any money on his last tour and that gay-rights organisation, The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, "is trying to run me under".

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com

A good day for Buju - DEA agent again says no evidence artiste a drug dealer

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/A-good-day-for-Buju_8373371


FLORIDA, USA — Jurors in the highly anticipated second trial of reggae superstar Buju Banton heard testimony yesterday from lead investigator Dan McCaffrey of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) that there was no evidence that the artiste was a drug trafficker. In fact, at the end of his cross-examination from defence lawyer David Oscar Markus, it was revealed that Buju did not finance or benefit from the drug deal that he was charged with being a part of.

Jamaican reggae artiste Buju Banton (right) greets a friend outside the Sam M Gibbons Federal Court in Tampa, Florida yesterday afternoon after the first day of his retrial on drug and gun charges. (Photo: Paul Henry)

McCaffrey's testimony yesterday was similar to that he gave on day one of Banton's first trial.
Based on his investigation, McCaffrey said that two men from Georgia known only as Ike and Tyke put up the US$135,000 that Buju's friend Ian Thomas and another man — James Mack — had presented to undercover drug agents when they were busted in a sting operation on December 10, 2009.
In addition, McCaffrey said that there was no evidence of any connection between Buju and Ike and Tyke. The agent also agreed that Ike and Tyke were the buyers of the drugs for which Banton was arrested.
McCaffrey, while making these admissions and agreeing that Mack was a courier for Ike and Tyke, maintained that Thomas and Buju were the ones who brokered the drug deal.


During his opening statement to jurors, prosecutor James Preston said that Buju's role had shifted from seeking new avenues to expanding his multimillion-dollar drugs enterprise to that of a broker.
Preston told the jurors that Buju was actively involved in the conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine, noting that he would provide the evidence to back his statement.
But during his address of the jurors, Markus presented a checklist of 10 reasons why his client is not guilty, chief among them is that Buju had backed out of earlier drug talk with Johnson on December 8, 2009 after discovering that Johnson was a real drug dealer.


Following yesterday's early adjournment, as a result of a juror falling ill, Buju and his lawyer emerged from the Sam M Gibbons Federal Court in Tampa and gave brief statements to the press. Markus said that he was pleased with how the day had progressed.
"We had a very good day," Markus told a throng of reporters. "We feel good. I feel the same way Mark [Buju] feels, that once the jurors listen to the facts they will find him not guilty because he's not guilty. He's innocent."
Buju had moments earlier told reporters that he was thankful for the jurors who were selected and asked that they pay attention to the facts of the case.
Two hours were spent yesterday morning selecting the 12 jurors who would decide Buju's fate. The panel is comprised of three African-American women.


The artiste is being tried for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine; attempted possession with the intent to distribute cocaine; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offence; and using the wires to facilitate a drug-trafficking offence.
If convicted, Buju could be sent to prison for 20 years.


Earlier in the morning, Buju, dressed in a dark suit and blue shirt, kept a cheerful demeanour, laughing and chatting with his attorneys. At one point as they stood for the entrance of the jurors, a member of Banton's legal team could be seen rubbing his back in a comforting way as they spoke.
In his opening address to the jurors, Markus petitioned to his client to stand, "This is Mark Myrie and he is not guilty," the lawyer said.


Markus told the jury that the artiste had no connection to the gun for which he was charged and that he had no connection to the drugs or the players in the deal.
But Preston said that Banton was a drug dealer and that the evidence would prove it. He told the jurors that at the end of the evidence he would be calling on them to convict the artiste, adding that America was depending on them.


Yesterday, Markus painted Johnson as a con artist, saying that he had set up Banton for financial benefit. Jurors were told that Johnson was paid US$50,000 for his part in the Buju Banton investigation.
Johnson, a former drug dealer turned informant, has been paid a total of US$3.3 million for his work with the US Government since 1996.

Buju's retrial set for February 14

http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=26040

Florida, CMC – Jamaican reggae artiste Mark Myrie otherwise known as Buju Banton will face a federal court on February 14 to be retried on drug and gun-related charges. 

The date of the highly anticipated trial was set on Wednesday by Judge James Moody. 

Myrie was last tried in September on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, and aiding and abetting the possession of a firearm during a drug-trafficking offence. 

However, the 12-member panel of jurors was unable to reach a verdict following three days of deliberations. That trial lasted a little over a week. 

The second trial was scheduled to get underway last December but was postponed so that Myrie, who is on US$250,000 bail and is subjected to house arrest, could spend time with his family. 

It was not immediately clear if Myrie would be tried on the previous charges or the additional charges tacked on by the prosecution in a new indictment, which are being challenged by the entertainer's legal team. Both the prosecution and defence are awaiting a ruling on the matter. 

Should the new indictment stand, Myrie will be tried for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, attempted possession with the intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offence, and facilitating a drug-trafficking offence. 

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years' imprisonment. The United States Government would also seek to seize his assets. 

Myrie was arrested in December of 2009 following the arrests of two other men, Ian Thomas and James Mack, who subsequently pleaded guilty to similar charges.