Jasmine Hartin Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter by Negligence; Sentencing is May 31st.
Jasmine Hartin
The trial of Jasmine Hartin has ended almost as quickly as it began today before Supreme Court Judge, Ricardo O’Neil Sandcroft. The case ended this evening with Hartin pleading guilty to manslaughter by negligence for the shooting death of Superintendent of Police Henry Jemmott, who was forty-two when he was killed on a pier in San Pedro on May twenty-eighth, 2021. Hartin will be sentenced on May thirty-first, just about two years to the day after the incident. News Five’s Marion Ali was in the courtroom and filed this report.
Court Reporter
“Jasmine do you have anything to say at this moment?”
Jasmine Hartin
Jasmine Hartin, Pleads guilty to manslaughter by negligence
“I just want Henry’s family to have peace now and I want this whole thing behind all of us so we can heal.”
Henry Jemmott
Marion Ali, Reporting
Jasmine Hartin, the Canadian socialite who came under heavy scrutiny and criticism following the shooting death of her good friend, Superintendent of Police Henry Jemmott, left the courtroom in tears after pleading guilty to manslaughter by negligence the same day that her trial was scheduled to begin. In a packed courtroom before Supreme Court Justice Ricardo O’Neil Sandcroft, Hartin asked the court for a sentence indication, which is a brief review of what sentence an accused would be looking at for the crime they were charged with. The judge explained that there are quite a few things that he would need to take into account, but he said there is the likelihood that Hartin could be handed a non-custodial sentence, which would be a fine and or compensation to the family. Hartin was represented by father and son duo, attorneys Hubert and Orson Elrington, who told the media that the plea is not a win for any of the parties concerned.
Orson “OJ” Elrington
Orson “OJ” Elrington, Attorney for Jasmine Hartin
“I believe that at the end of the day, as my client has consistently maintained, it is that it is a most unfortunate set of circumstances. It is one for which she is truly remorseful. At the end of the day, a life was lost. A life that can never be returned and she has indicated her remorse not only with her words but with her actions in trying to consistently provide assistance to the family. So, I don’t know that there can ever be a victory. Nobody ever wins in a situation like this. The only thing that can happen is that the parties involved can now get the opportunity to move on with their lives.”
Elrington explained that because Hartin has opted to plead guilty forthwith, the judge is expected to stick to his word of giving her a non-custodial sentence.
Orson “OJ” Elrington
“That is the purpose of a sentence indication hearing, so once the judge indicates that a sentence indication hearing, that is the highest that he can go. So sometimes you would indicate maybe in another sentence, indication hearing would say, well, between 10 and 15 years. Well, the 15 years is a maximum that you can get. You can get lower than that, but you cannot get higher than that. So the fact that he has limited himself to a non-custodial sentence, yes, it is set in stone that it’ll be in non-custodial sentence. I think he relayed that on multiple occasions at the bar that once it is, he has made that in. He is now restricted and restrained, arrested from making any other type of declaration at his sentence.”
One of the factors that Justice Sandcroft will consider on May thirty-first is whether Hartin has shown any remorse. Today in court that was evident and Elrington said she has shown that throughout and that was the reason for her guilty plea.
Orson “OJ” Elrington
“After taking all things into consideration, especially I can tell you heavy on her heart in considering was to not put the family of the victim through the anguish of having to go through a trial proceeding, you know, so she has consistently expressed her concern about that and therefore found that that it was necessary at this point in time to take the guilty plea and to for all parties involved to move on.”
Marion Ali for News Five.
