Special Prosecutor Appointed to Investigate Rogue Juror in Buju Case

Ever since Buju Banton, one of Jamaica's most talented and controversial reggae singers, was convicted of cocaine trafficking and gun charges in 2011, there have been signs his trial was not on the up-and-up.

You may recall he was sentenced to ten years and lingers in federal lockup. That sentence was allowed to stand even though New Times first disclosed in 2012 that the jury forewoman, Terri Wright, had conducted outside research while the trial was ongoing. That's a violation of court procedures, so 19 months ago, a federal judge ordered the U.S. government to bring criminal contempt charges against Wright.

Virtually nothing happened. But now there's movement. A special prosecutor from outside the U.S. Department of Justice has been tasked with leading the case against the rogue juror and plans to meet with Banton's legal team, Wright, and the feds.

Though no one on the government end is talking much, the appointment of a special prosecutor in such a situation is significant. Such prosecutors are typically reserved for investigating government officials.

So is there a wider probe into potential misconduct that could move Banton a step closer to freedom?

"I hope," says defense attorney Charles Ogletree, who heads Harvard Law School's Institute for Race and Justice. He has been representing Banton (real name Mark Myrie) for the past year. "Here we have a wildcat juror, somebody who's going way beyond their authority and doing things that were completely inappropriate. This undermined the search for truth, which resulted, I think, in the conviction of [Banton]."

Wright's misdeeds extend far beyond doing internet research during the trial. She appears to have lied on several occasions, including during jury selection for Banton's trial, when she told the court she had served in only one previous trial. In reality she had served in seven.

Moreover, when the judge ordered Wright to turn over her computer for forensic analysis, Wright submitted a bogus hard drive. It was in the wake of this deception that the judge called for the contempt charges.

Lost in all of this mess is that Banton remains locked up. It has been six years since he was arrested. He has been through two trials -- the first ended in a hung jury and the second was corrupted by Wright. He has served more jail time than the men who were actually at the scene of the crime with stacks of cash and a gun trying to buy cocaine. (He was far away when the bust happened.)

The criminal informant who built the case against Buju had been deemed untrustworthy by a previous judge and had financial incentive to bend the truth in favor of the prosecution. One-third of the jurors have even admitted to New Times that they did not want to find the singer guilty on the gun charge, which carries a five-year sentence.

It's the jury forewoman's actions that most disturb Harvard's Ogletree, though. "What Terri Wright did is contrary to everything that anyone knows about jury trials," he says. "Jurors... take an oath, and they need to follow it."

Banton's case remains under review by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, where Ogletree recently presented an oral argument centering largely on all the unknowns surrounding Wright. Two weeks ago, the panel requested that all 11 judges of the court review the case. Another hearing is expected this spring.

"We have all the evidence going in our direction," Ogletree says. "We're ready."

See also: http://bujutrial.blogspot.fi/2012/02/buju-banton-is-innocent-full-story.html

Source: http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2015/02/buju_banton_case_special_prosecutor_appointed_to_investigate_rogue_juror.php

Unchained spirit

Despite Wednesday's unsuccessful bid, Professor Charles Ogletree -- part of reggae singer Buju Banton's legal team -- is vowing to continue the fight to have his client's conviction reversed.

"We will be fighting for Buju Banton's freedom," said Olgetree, a professor at Harvard Law School, in a written response to the Jamaica Observer's queries.

On Wednesday, a United States Appeal Court dismissed the request to have the reggae artiste's conviction overturned to secure a new trial. But Ogletree, who, along with Max Stern comprise Buju Banton's legal team, is undaunted.

"We have not lost the appeal. The 11th Circuit made it clear that the entire Appellate Court should hear his case. We will present our arguments for a reversal of his conviction to the entire Court in an En Banc hearing later this spring," he said.

Buju Banton, whose given name is Mark Myrie, is currently serving a mandatory 10-year prison sentence for a charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. The 41-year-old is scheduled to be released in 2019. He has filed a motion requesting an early release under new federal drug sentencing guidelines.

He was convicted in February 2011, days after winning a Grammy award for his album, Before the Dawn. His other albums include 'Til Shiloh (1995), Inna Heights (1997) and Unchained Spirit (2000).

"We are grateful to the people of Jamaica and around the world who have been steadfast in fighting for justice for Buju Banton!," Ogletree concluded.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/UNCHAINED-SPIRIT_18275350

Buju files another appeal

Incarcerated reggae star Buju Banton has filed yet another appeal in the United States to reverse his conviction on drug charges.

The appeal by attorneys Professor Charles Ogletree, Jack Cushman and Max Stern was filed with the 11th US Circuit Court on February 4.

Ogletree, who is the head of the law department at Harvard University, said he accepted the offer to represent Banton -- whose real name is Mark Myrie -- because it was clear that he did not receive a fair trial.

"There is no way in the world he received a fair trial," Ogletree told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

After two trials, Banton was sentenced to 10 years in a Tampa, Florida, court for drug-related offences. However, information later emerged that jury foreman Teri Wright had defied an order from Judge Tim Moody and had studied aspects of the Pinkerton Law and Banton's music.

The Pinkerton Law was used by the prosecution to convict Banton for using a telephone to facilitate a drug-trafficking offence.

The information came to light after Wright admitted her misconduct to a reporter. Wright was then ordered by the court to hand over a computer she had used to study the law, but instead handed over another computer. A computer forensics expert hired by Banton later proved that the hard drive on the computer had not been used for a number of years.

According to Ogletree, although the appeal had been filed, it would take months before the case is heard by the appellate court's judges.

"It's hard to tell; we have called for a continuance and the government will call for a continuance. However, I hope to get it before the court before the end of 2014," he said.

As an inmate in the care of the state, the federal Bureau of Prison can house Banton in any penal facility of their choice and Ogletree said a move was afoot to remove him from the low-security FCI Miami prison to another location.

"We have filed in the court to get him to stay in Miami," he said.

He said despite his travails, Myrie has remained upbeat and is looking forward to his appeal being heard.

"He is very positive. I speak to him every other day. He read the brief and is happy with it. He is glad that the truth is being told about him," he said.

Buju Banton was arrested in December 2009 at his Tamarac, Florida, home and charged with conspiracy to distribute five or more kilogrammes of cocaine. His arrest followed a sting operation at a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)-controlled warehouse in Tampa, which also resulted in the arrest of James Mack and Ian Thomas, who were attempting to purchase cocaine from undercover agents.

Banton has maintained his innocence and claimed he was entrapped by government informant Alexander Thomas, who hounded him for months to get involved in drug smuggling.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Buju-again-appeals-drug-conviction_16105414

Buju’s co-accused released from prison

IAN Thomas, one of the co-conspirators in the Buju Banton drug case, has been released from federal prison.

Thomas — who the Federal Bureau of Prisons' website said was released on August 23 — and James Mack were held in a police-controlled warehouse in Tampa, Florida , attempting to purchase a large quantity of cocaine p> from undercover Drug Enforcement Agents. A quantity of cash and an illegal pistol were later found in a car Mack was driving at the time.

That same day Banton, whose right name is Mark Myrie, was arrested at his home in Tamarac, South Florida.

Mack and Thomas both pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges and agreed to testify against the Jamaican entertainer in exchange for lesser sentences.

Mack, who is currently serving time in a federal prison in Sacramento, California, is slated for release on November 11 this year.

Banton has been adamant that he is innocent of the charges and despite being sentenced to 10 years is fighting for a new trial after the jury foreperson in his second trial, Teri Wright, was found guilty of contempt of court after it was revealed that she had disobeyed an order from Magistrate James Moody not to study any aspect of the law as it related to Banton's case.

Banton is seeking to ask a US court to throw out his guilty verdict on the grounds that the jury was tainted.

In the meantime, the Buju Banton Defence Support Committee, in a release yesterday, said it remained at a loss in understanding how the foreperson of the jury could be found in contempt of court during the trial and follow-up hearing, yet only one of that jury's decisions was thrown out.

And the committee -- an international group of Banton's friends and civil rights activists — yesterday denied a local media report that the imprisoned entertainer has retained his former lawyer, David Oscar Markus on his legal team.

"That information is false. David Markus is not on Buju's legal team. Buju's new Attorney is Charles Ogletree of Harvard University. He is the sole attorney representing Mark," the group said in a release.

Attorney Chukwe Lumumba, who had replaced Marcus, was in June this year forced to recuse himself after he was elected mayor of Jackson, Mississippi. He, however, assisted the committee in securing the services of Charles Ogletree Jr to represent the Jamaican entertainer.

Ogletree is director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He founded and became director of the school's Criminal Justice Institute in 1990.

Banton was on August 24 sent to the FTC prison in Oklahoma, from where he will be transferred to another federal prison to serve his time.

He was previously locked up at the FCI penal institution in Miami, Florida but when the evidentiary hearings into Wright's misconduct began last year he was transferred to the Pinellas County Jail in Tampa.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Buju-s-co-accused-released-from-prison_14988220#ixzz2dvggqn4Y

Buju Gets New Lawyer, Transferred To Another Prison

Buju Banton is making some serious movements in his ongoing quest for freedom.

The Grammy-winning reggae star has acquired the services of a new attorney name Charles J. Ogletree Jr. after his previous lawyer Chokwe Lumumba was elected mayor of Jackson Mississippi.

“Attorney Charles J. Ogletree is the Jesse Climenko Professor of Law Director, Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice,” Buju Banton`s Defense Support Committee said in a statement. “Accordingly, he is more than ready to continue the fight for justice for Buju. We expect that Attorney Ogletree will determine what his next steps will be after reviewing the case. Attorney Lumumba has already filed a notice of appeal following the incomplete justice Judge Moody gave on June 26, 2013.”

Buju Banton is also being transferred to a new prison.

According to reports, the reggae singer, real name Mark Myrie, was transferred from a Florida prison and is now being held at a Federal Transfer Centre (FTC) in Oklahoma City.

The reason for his transfer is not yet known.

Banton was convicted on three counts of drug trafficking charges and sentenced to 10 years behind bars.

Source: http://urbanislandz.com/2013/09/02/buju-banton-gets-new-lawyer-transfered-to-another-prison/