By WANDEKA GAYLE, Staff ReporterDESPITE HIS LAWYER'S efforts at the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, Mark 'Buju Banton' Myrie will have a criminal record for possession and cultivation of ganja.
The entertainer's lawyer has said that the recording of the conviction will be appealed.
Attorney-at-law Christopher Dunkley, who represented the popular reggae artiste, requested of Resident Magistrate Kissock Laing to maintain Banton's clean record since it could hurt his travel arrangements needed to fulfill certain contracts abroad.
Dunkley even cited an instance where another popular reggae entertainer, Jepther 'Luciano' McClymoth was fined for ganja but no conviction was recorded against him.
However RM Laing stated that while he knew Banton to make significant contributions in the reggae industry, until the decriminilisation of ganja, the court's hands were tied. He added that the court had to take into consideration the amount of drugs involved.
According to previous reports, while the certificate showed Luciano was found with four ounces of ganja, Banton was found guilty on March 26 for cultivating three fully grown ganja plants in the rear of his Gargamel Recording Studio at 10 Carlisle Avenue, St. Andrew, which police report weighs one kilogram.
Reports from the police was that they chased a man unto the premises of the studio last December at about 7:30 p.m. Their chase led them to the ganja growing in the rear of the property. The singer named himself the proprietor of the compound and was subsequently arrested and charged.
However, during the court proceedings, Banton denied knowledge of the ganja and being physically involved in the development of the garden.
