Jasmine Pace
The trial in which Jason Chen is charged with the murder of Jasmine Pace has been moved to Jan. 6.
That comes after Criminal Court Judge Boyd Patterson, in an 11-page ruling issued Friday, declined to throw out evidence obtained when the victim's family went inside Chen's apartment several times and took some items.
The ruling also included evidence from body cameras when three city police officers did a "protective search" of apartments at The Lofts at Tremont at the corner of Tremont and Frazier Avenue.
The body of Ms. Pace was found stuffed in a suitcase in a ditch along Suck Creek Road. She had over 60 stab wounds.
District Attorney Coty Wamp said, despite the favorable ruling, the state does not plan to use any evidence from the protective search.
Judge Patterson said if the defense goes into the protective search during the trial that might open it up for the state to do so also.
Another motion hearing will be Sept. 13 in the case.
A jury will be selected from Blount County in December and later brought to Chattanooga for the trial.
DA Wamp said all the evidence that the state plans to use is ready for trial.
Attorney Josh Weiss sought the continuance, saying more time was needed to prepare.
The order by Judge Patterson addressed six searches at the apartment where Chen lived and where police believe Ms. Pace was killed.
They include one by the Pace family on Nov. 26, 2022, the protective search by three police officers on Nov. 27, 2022, another by the victim's family on Nov. 27, 2022, police using a search warrant on Nov. 27, 2022, contractors working to clean up the Chen apartment on Jan. 6, 2023 (they found a large amount of blood in carpet and under tiles), and police with the property manager's consent on Jan. 6, 2023.
The Pace family had first found Jasmine's car near some Mountain Creek apartments. Just after that, her mother, Catrina Pace, noticed on her phone that Jasmine had left a "pin drop" (location) at 2:18 a.m. on Nov. 23, 2022. The location was near the Frazier Avenue area where Ms. Pace's car had been located before it was moved.
The family then made their way to the apartment building and began knocking on doors asking if anyone had seen Ms. Pace or Chen. They eventually located Chen's unit and went in using a credit card to open the door.
They also spoke to a couple who lived next door to Chen who told of hearing the distressed cry of a female about the time Ms. Pace had left the pin drop.
Judge Patterson said a private person "may be considered an agent of the government if he or she conducts a search with the government's knowledge and without a legitimate independent motivation." However, he found that the Paces did not meet the definition of being state agents in the case.
He said, "The Pace family's personal motivation to find Jasmine drove their efforts regardless of the varying levels of the police officers' professional motivation to do the same."
He said, "Accordingly, Jasmine's driver's license, credit cards and personal bag discovered in Apt. 210 by her family do not qualify for suppression under the constitutional prohibition against warrantless governmental search and seizures."