Latricia Thomas
Appearances
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 09: The Verdict and Sentencing
The defense attorney, Joshua Wise, was asking Ms. Chin, do you have anything to say to the family of Jasmine Pace? And instead of addressing them, she kept addressing the jury, asking them to give Jason Chin the possibility of parole. They switched translators. They actually called an aunt on the phone. And Ms.
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 09: The Verdict and Sentencing
Chen gave basically the same answer when asked what she wanted to say to the Pace family. She did very shortly say, I hope that the Pace family gives him another chance. But of course, in this situation, it's up to the jury to decide the sentence. So what sentences could they decide here? We know that Jason Shin was convicted yesterday of premeditated first degree murder and abuse of a corpse.
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 09: The Verdict and Sentencing
So the state is seeking life in prison without parole. But according to the judge's instructions to the jury before these witness impact statements began... He said that their choices here are life in prison with parole or life in prison without parole. And he went through some of the things that they had to decide about if they were true or not to give him life in prison without parole.
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 09: The Verdict and Sentencing
One of them being that the act was particularly heinous. They can also take into consideration any past criminal history he may have. So at some point today, the jury will go and deliberate on a sentence, and those are the two choices there. Now, oh, and one thing also to mention, during his mother's testimony, this was the first visible emotion that we've seen from Jason Chen during this trial.
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 09: The Verdict and Sentencing
Now, it is difficult to see exactly what his face is showing, but this is our first testimony. observable sign that he's showing emotion in the courtroom as he started crying and wiping his eyes as his mother was testifying saying he is a good kid who made a mistake he studies hard they said that their life is difficult
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 09: The Verdict and Sentencing
in the United States because they don't speak English and they run a restaurant and Jason was at home a lot on his own while they were running that restaurant. Again, she asked the jury repeatedly to give him the possibility of parole after 51 years so he could have a second chance.
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 09: The Verdict and Sentencing
So again, the first visible emotion we've seen on our live stream and from our crews in the courtroom during this trial.
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 09: The Verdict and Sentencing
For the first time, we're hearing what went into their decision to convict him of premeditated first-degree murder and sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 06: The Evidence Tells the Story
This particular fingerprint was made by the left middle finger or left ring finger of Jason Chen.
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 06: The Evidence Tells the Story
And that's what we're seeing now from this Chattanooga Police fingerprint supervisor that testified this morning. And then something that I didn't realize, each one of these cases is then corroborated by another person that doesn't know what the first person came up with. So they look at the two things again to match.
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 06: The Evidence Tells the Story
And in this case, the second person also said that he believes those fingerprints on the garbage bag that contained Jasmine Pace's body were those of Jason Chen.
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 10: After the Verdict
Victims matter. Jasmine Pace is not just some girl listed in an autopsy report. She is not the photos that you have seen. Don't minimize her to a name on an indictment. She's a person. She had families that loved her. She was a friend. She was a granddaughter. Please don't minimize this trial to the trial for him.
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 10: After the Verdict
Chattanoogans had been following this case since Jasmine's body was found. So for more than two years. And I think there was so much, just so many eyes on it because they wanted to see what really happened to her. And they wanted to see if the family felt like they got justice in the end because the family had been
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 10: After the Verdict
so vocal in the beginning, trying to look for her, trying to find her, trying to get the police to back them up. And so I think that really touched a lot of people's hearts and minds in Chattanooga and wanted to see how it played out. This story captivated Chattanooga because Jasmine was so young. Jasmine had all these friends and family speaking out for her, looking for her.
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 10: After the Verdict
And then just the gruesome way that she died and was found. Thankfully, it doesn't happen often. And to have such a young life end in such a tragic and horrific
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 10: After the Verdict
horrible way I think everybody wants it to mean something in the end if at all it to have a conclusion in a way that you can rest a little easier at night knowing all of those graphic details you know there was a conclusion and a story that was just so hard to hear and hard to talk about
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 05: The Body in the Suitcase
But actually, I do want to pause here and go away from our normal structure to talk about some breaking news that was just into our newsroom moments before we broke for lunch here. And that is a wrongful death lawsuit has been filed by Jasmine Pace's family against Jason Chin and his parents.
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 05: The Body in the Suitcase
We have not heard them implicated by facing criminal charges in this case, but we now know that in November, attorney Ben McGowan, who's representing the Pace family, filed a wrongful death lawsuit. Some of the things that it claims here, that there was criminal conspiracy between Jason Chin and his parents. They claim the family helped him to cover up the murder and then harbored him
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 05: The Body in the Suitcase
at their Nolensville, Tennessee home while police were looking to arrest him. This lawsuit is looking for $17 million. Our web team right now is working on getting that lawsuit and more details of it onto our website, newschannel9.com.
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 05: The Body in the Suitcase
Let's take a look quickly at one thing that has kind of become center stage here. And that is the toxicology report from Jasmine Pace's autopsy. Dr. Cogswell, the one doing the autopsy on Jasmine Pace's body after she was found in that suitcase on the side of Suck Creek Road.
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 05: The Body in the Suitcase
One thing and to understand why there's so many questions about this toxicology report, you have to go back to the opening statements by the defense. So if you'll remember, the defense attorney, Joshua Wise, came out and said, we're not going to waste your time. We admit that Jason Chen killed Jasmine Pace.
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 05: The Body in the Suitcase
But instead of it being a premeditated murder, which is what the prosecution is claiming, they want the jury to believe that this was a crime of passion. And they say this all was sparked when Jasmine Pace saw text messages come in to Jason Chin's phone. And then she got very angry. They said they were together drinking wine.
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 05: The Body in the Suitcase
They mentioned the wine in the opening statements several, several times. They said when Jasmine Pace went in the kitchen to get a second bottle of wine, she heard those text messages come in. They say she then went at him with a wine bottle. He kicked her to get her to move back. which she fell upon some wine glasses and then tried to attack Jason Chin with that broken wine glass.
SEQUESTERED Podcast
Episode 05: The Body in the Suitcase
Now, why is that important? Well, today it becomes important that narrative that the defense says that they will try to prove when it's their turn. Because now we see the blood tests of Jasmine Pace that have been introduced by her autopsy report that she, in fact, did not have alcohol in her system.