Incarcerated reggae star Buju Banton has switched attorneys and hired civil rights activist and community organizer, Attorney Chokwe Lumumba to continue his fight against federal drug and gun charges. All I can say is…about time!
No disrespect to previous attorney David Oscar Markus who valiantly defended the Grammy-award winning Buju Banton, however, I do think that there are civil and human rights issues in this case that can be more closely examined. Also, vital testimony from a co-defendant that was not allowed should be re-examined. Most importantly, however, after almost three years on the case, its time for a fresh pair of eyes and a new approach.
A Tampa jury found Buju guilty last year of two drug-related charges and a gun charge. The trial judge, however, tossed the gun charge and sentenced the musician to 10 years in prison.
“I will always consider Buju my friend and my brother and I think of him every day,” Markus wrote in an email. “It pains me that he is in prison. I truly hope that he gets some relief.”
Buju’s new attorney, Lumumba, is currently awaiting court documents for review and will meet with Buju in the coming weeks in Miami at a Federal prison to begin strategizing. .
“We intend to move as fast as we can,” Lumumba says. “In terms of how fast the court will move, it’s hard to say.”
In the past, Lumumba has worked on cases involving Tupac Shakur, Black Panther Assata Shakur (a step-aunt to Tupac), and Lance Parker, a black man accused of assaulting a white truck driver during the 1992 Rodney King riots in L.A.
A re-sentencing in Buju’s case is slated for October 30. The judge will have to decide whether to add an additional five years to Buju’s already decade long sentence after an Atlanta appeal’s court said there was enough evidence for the gun count.
Judge Moody, the trial judge, originally tossed the gun charge but reinstated after the appeal’s court said the government’s argument that guns and drugs go together was enough for the conviction.
Lumumba may file a motion to seek a resentencing on all charges, not just the gun charge.
SOURCE: New Times
