Socialite Jasmine Hartin is headed BACK to prison after former associate decided he'd no longer cover her $30,000 bail ahead of her trial for shooting dead top Belizean cop
The socialite accused of 'accidentally' shooting dead a top Belizean police officer is headed back to prison after a former associate decided he was no longer willing to cover her bail money.
Frank Habet wrote to the country's Supreme Court saying he was worried he would lose his 60,000 Belizean dollars ($30,000) if Jasmine Hartin did not show up for trial in the killing of Superintendent Henry Jemmott.
Habet said he decided to pull the plug after the accused mother-of-two was turned back by security Tuesday when she tried to access her family apartment at the Grand Colony resort to see her young twins.
DailyMail.com published videos of Hartin, 32, chasing her partner Andrew Ashcroft, the son of Britain's Lord Ashcroft, into the neighboring Alaia Belize hotel, which the couple ran together before their lives were upended by the Jemmott shooting
Jasmine Hartin is taken into custody after a former associate has decided he'll no longer cover her bail
Hartin took the videos on her own cell phone and could be heard repeatedly asking Ashcroft why he allegedly wouldn't give her access to Ellie And Charlie, four.
The incident prompted Habet, the general manager of Grand Colony - another Ashcroft-operated property – to demand back his $30,000 cash deposit and cancel a further surety of $30,000.
'Ms Hartin appeared at Grand Colony Resort behaving in a disorderly and abusive manner and creating great disturbance at the hotel in the presence of guests,' Habet wrote.
Cameras surround Hartin as she's taken back into custody
A law enforcement agent arrives to take Hartin back into custody after her bail was yanked
Hartin's legal team is now working to secure bail for her to be released by Monday, DailyMail.com has learned
'I now think Ms Hartin is quite capable of not showing up for trial and I wish to immediately withdraw my cash deposit and revoke the surety form I signed as I simply cannot afford the financial loss should this occur.'
Without another backer, Justice Herbert Lloyd told the Canadian national at a court hearing Friday afternoon that she would have to spend the weekend in Hattieville Prison.
DailyMail.com understands that Hartin's legal team - led by a new, high-profile attorney, Dickie Bradley – are already working to secure the funds from new sources to have her released Monday.
The new legal blow comes after Hartin was dramatically re-arrested for common assault Thursday afternoon over the clash with her former common law partner.
She was taken overnight from San Ignacio, close to the Guatemalan border, to the capital, Belmopan, then on to the upscale resort of Ambergris Caye where she looked exhausted and close to tears as she appeared before a magistrate in the town of San Pedro, formerly her home.
The court heard she had attempted to push Sandra Grisham, the general manager of the Alaia, however, Hartin representing herself, pleaded not guilty and denied attacking anyone.
Prosecutors also charged the blonde with possession of a controlled substance in relation to a small amount of cocaine found in her purse the night she was arrested for shooting dead Jemmott on a secluded hotel pier.
The magistrate objected to the charge, however, saying it had not been included in the original indictment over the May 28 killing in which Hartin was solely charged with manslaughter by negligence.
Hartin was released on bail of $1,000 Belizeans dollars before being transferred by boat to the Supreme Court in Belize City where she learned about Habet's sudden u-turn.
There, she was represented by Bradley after an apparent split with Godfrey Smith, the influential former attorney general of Belize who was hired on her behalf in the hours after Jemmot's shooting.
Bradley told the proceedings that Habet could not get his money back so late on a Friday so Hartin should be allowed more time to find a new guarantor.
He also attacked the series of legal moves that landed Hartin - still wearing the same pink polo she was arrested in the previous day - back in prison, saying the new charges were designed to create prejudice against her.
'Your Lordship can say to Mr Habet your application was only made today. The law does not deal in ambush,' he told the court.
Hartin broke down in tears, however, as Justice Herbert replied: 'Yes, perhaps Ms Hartin has been taken by ambush but the law says that if I put money on the line I can withdraw it at any time.
Hartin is pictured being taken away from San Pedro magistrates court Friday afternoon en route back to mainland Belize where she made a second appearance at the Supreme Court in Belize; the woman in the maroon shirt isn't identified
'Bring a person and pay the money and she will be released immediately.'
Jemmott, a father-of-five and a highly-rated officer tipped as a future leader of his country's police force, was struck behind his right ear by a 9mm round from his own Glock 17 service pistol.
According to a criminal complaint he had been 'socializing' and drinking alone with Hartin on a secluded hotel pier in Ambergris Caye, a tropical island haven for millionaire expats.
A security guard heard a 'loud bang' at 12:45am and police arrived to find Canadian national Hartin 'covered in red substance as that of blood' and Jemmott, 42, floating dead on his back 30ft from the shore.
An expended shell casing was still lodged inside the gun which was found on the Mata Rocks hotel pier along with a magazine, live bullets and a pool of blood.
After spending the weekend behind bars, Hartin gave a statement saying the off-duty officer was showing her how to handle his firearm as the pair drank and hung out In her exclusive interview Thursday with DailyMail.com she reiterated her version of events, saying the gun went off unexpectedly in her hands as she tried to re-insert a clip and hand it back.
'Henry was my friend. It was an accident, I didn't flee the scene. The first thing I did was call the police myself,' she said.
'There's literally not a day that goes by when I don't cry and my frigging chest doesn't hurt and ache for his kids, for his family, for him.'
She also revealed for the first time that the reason she was practicing with the gun was because an unnamed man had tried to rape her at a party six days earlier.
Three days after Jemmott's death Hartin was charged with manslaughter by negligence after prosecutors opted against murder or full-fledged manslaughter on the strength of her witness statement insisting it was an accident.
The offense carries a maximum prison sentence of nine months or a fine of around 10,000 Belizean dollars ($5,000 in US money).
Instead of being released on bail, however, petite Hartin was taken on a boat to mainland Belize and spent eight days at Hattieville, which was once featured on a Netflix show about the toughest prisons in the world.
When she was finally released she remained at a secure location near San Ignacio, close to the Guatemalan border, rather than returning to live with her family.
Hartin said she only went to see Andrew Ashcroft Tuesday because she feared she was being blocked from seeing her kids and wanted answers.
'I didn't go there looking for a fight. I went there hoping to see my children whom I have been denied access to, and to collect my things,' she later told DailyMail.com.
'The authorities are now trying to claim that I breached my parole by behaving inappropriately. But there is nothing to say I can't see my children. There are no custody proceedings.'
No comments