FORMER Corrections Officer Jessme Jones Martin will serve three months in prison for assaulting another woman.
On Wednesday, May 15, Martin, represented by Assistant Public Defender Charlene Brown, entered a guilty plea to the charge of assault and battery.
For its part, the government, through Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds, dismissed the other charges against Martin.
Initially, Martin, 23, was charged with assault and battery, assault with a dangerous weapon, and disturbing the peace.
Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho accepted Martin’s guilty plea after finding that her “decision to plead guilty is freely, voluntarily, and intelligently made; (2) she has had the advice of competent counsel whom she said she was satisfied with; (3) she understood the consequences of her plea of guilty; and, (4) there is a factual basis for the plea of guilty.”
Martin was sentenced to serve one year in prison with the first three months to be served without the possibility of parole, early release, or other similar programs. The remainder of the sentence was suspended but may be reimposed for violation of law or Office of the Adult Probation rules.
The defendant was also given six days’ credit for time already served.
In his judgment and commitment order, Judge Camacho said Martin will be placed on three years’ probation after serving her sentence.
He then ordered the CNMI Marshals to take Martin into custody so she could immediately start serving her sentence.
The complaint
Martin told investigators that she and her husband were in an “on and off” relationship.
On the day of the incident, Martin said she was with her husband having alcoholic drinks at his residence. They later went out with two other girls. One of the girls, Martin’s sister-in-law, told her to sleep at her husband’s house.
She said when they arrived at her husband’s house, she was surprised to see the godmother of one of her husband’s children there.
Out of anger, Martin got out of the vehicle and started banging on the window. She saw empty glass bottles and started throwing them at the main door of the house.
According to the victim, she was at Martin’s husband’s residence to talk about breaking up. She had been there for a while when she heard loud music from outside the residence. When she looked out, she saw Martin, who started shouting and banging on the front door.
The victim said she tried to leave while Martin attempted to throw hollow blocks at the victim’s car. When Martin charged at her, Martin’s husband stopped the defendant.
Martin started punching her husband, “causing him to let her go.” Martin then punched the victim on the right eye causing her to fall to the ground. The two other girls with Martin then started punching the victim. She said she held onto the three girls’ hair to prevent them from further punching her.
The victim said Martin got into her car and backed up and ran over the victim’s left leg.