Good news for Reggae Superstar and Grammy Winner Buju Banton, real name Mark Myrie.
On Tuesday a press release informed that a United States government mistake could trigger the dismissal of his case.Yes!
The United States Government may have made a mistake in the Buju Banton court case and so Jamaican reggae crooner Buju Banton could walk free from his conviction and subsequent ten year sentence on drug-related charges!
According to reports, the US government failed to bring Buju to trial before 70 days, a right guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment. The Speedy Trial Act refers to one of the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution to defendants in criminal proceedings.
The right to a speedy trial, guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment, is intended to make sure that defendants are not subjected to unreasonably lengthy incarceration prior to a fair trial.
Buju Banton is currently serving a 10-year sentence in a Federal Correctional Institution in Miami, Florida. (as for the time this post is written on December 2012)
His first trial took place in September 2010, nine months after his initial arrest by law enforcement officials in Florida and four months after Buju’s initial court date was postponed without giving any specifics regarding why the case was postponed. His second trial, where he was later convicted, took place in February of this year, four months after he was granted bail in the case.
Buju Banton‘s legal team filed an appeal last week in a Georgia appeals court, citing violation of said act whilst intimating that Mark Myrie was not a willing participant in any drug conspiracy.
