Jasmine Hartin to Stand Trial for Manslaughter by Negligence in Supreme Court
Henry Jemmott
Jasmine Hartin was back today in the San Pedro Magistrate’s Court today for a procedure known as paper committal. What that entails is that the evidence which will be used by the prosecutor in the Manslaughter by Negligence case against Hartin was presented to Magistrate Cristina Perrera. This included a long list of statements, exhibits, and documents recorded since May twenty-eighth 2021 when Superintendent Henry Jemmott was killed. While it was the original case file presented to the Magistrate today, copies had been issued to the accused during disclosure. Hartin will stand trial at the next session of the Supreme Court, which opens in June of this year. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
Supreme Court bail conditions of thirty thousand dollars as well as checking in daily at the police station remain intact for Jasmine Hartin today when she appeared before Magistrate Cristina Perrera and was committed to stand trial for the Manslaughter by Negligence charge in the shooting death of Superintendent Henry Jemmott. This morning, sheaves of original documents and statements were presented in court, outlining the evidence that will be used during the Supreme Court trial.
Dickie Bradley
Dickie Bradley, Attorney for Jasmine Hartin
“When a person is charged with an indictable offense that matter can’t be tried in a magistrate court so you must go to a preliminary inquiry in which the magistrate must be satisfied there is some evidence that warrants sending the matter to the Supreme Court. You would have heard me say to the magistrate, Miss Cristina Perrera that we are making no submissions that we will go along with what is called a paper committal. The prosecutor, Roman Andrews who was punctilious and properly prepared laid out the whole situation, made available twenty-six different statements and some twenty-five exhibits.”
Jasmine Hartin
It will be up to the Crown Counsel from the D.P.P.’s Office to determine if all the statements, witnesses or exhibits that will be used come June thirteenth, when the Supreme Court session reopens.
Dickie Bradley
“She has been ordered to present herself to the Supreme Court on the thirteenth of June which is the opening of the June sessions for the Belize Judicial District and then thereafter, procedurally, she is basically going to be in a queue. You know Belize City di bubble and every time there is one trial, there are five more crimes taking place. So she will be in a queue and at some stage, which presiding judge will set a date for case management to determine if we need to have twenty-six witnesses parading into the court; if we will have more if we will have less. And set out the procedures so that when we go to court, there is no wastage of judicial time, which is very previous.”
Since the tragic incident, relatives of Jemmott have been back and forth to the island, attending the court proceedings. They want justice for the death of the senior officer. Today’s proceeding was emotional and Marie Tzul tells News Five that following the paper committal, they are hopeful that the family will get justice.
Marie Tzul, Sister of Henry Jemmott
“All I will say that my brother and his children deserve justice and I hope that it continues to prevail. But it has been a very emotional day for us. The whole planning to come has been emotional.”
Marie Tzul
Duane Moody
“She has to sign for bail again for thirty thousand dollars and trial will start again in June. You think that the process is now speeding up?”
Marie Tzul
“Yes it is in his favour.”
There was a delay in the processing of Hartin’s bail because the surety was in Belize City and not San Pedro where the court proceeding took place today. Bradley explains the hiccup.
Dickie Bradley
“It’s just a procedural process where the close of the procedure in a preliminary inquiry, a presiding magistrate would offer bail to the person. If it was murder, there would be no offer of bail. We made no submissions attacking any of the discrepancies on the statements because that is not necessary. And as I told Prosecutor Andrews, this is not the venue for me to raise those issues. All that is happening is that Miss Hartin is already on a Supreme Court bail. Judge Lord had given her a very high bail, thirty thousand dollars which involves either you deposit the cash which would affect the lawyer’s fees or you have a land paper. In her case, she has sureties who have deposited land paper with the court system. The court here in San Pedro is liaising with the court in Belize City because of the matter of fact that she already had a surety and land paper. All the paper work is finished and you can ambush her on her way out of the court shortly.”
Hartin, however, left the court around four p.m. today. Duane Moody for News Five.
One change that has been made to the bail arrangement is that Hartin can now check in with police each day in Caye Caulker where she resides, rather than San Ignacio.
