It's not everyday that a Belizean public figure gets featured on American network television, but the Jasmin Hartin manslaughter case has turned into a huge international story with major press coverage in the UK and the USA.
And, of course, Belize's most interviewed public personality, Chester Williams got thrown right into the middle of it.
He appeared this morning on the Fox News Network's America's newsroom where he was grilled about all aspects of the Hartin case, including the allegation aired on 7News last night that the San Pedro socialite was roughly treated inside the San Pedro cellblock:
Reporter
"There is another allegation that in that jail - notorious by all accounts - that she was roughed up and the police there were not nice to her. Did that happen?"
Chester Williams - Commissioner of Police
"I am not aware of that. I did see an interview on Channel 7 last night where a person who was detained in the cell next to her made some allegations, whether or not those allegations are true, I don't know but we do have surveillance footage inside the San Pedro police station, and so I will direct our professional standards branch to look at that footage to see if, in fact, the allegations made are true. There should be no special treatment of any individual based on their social stature, and, so, Ms. Harkin would have been treated in like manner as any ordinary person."
Reporter
"Specifically sir, the family members are saying that she should be charged with murder rather than inadvertent manslaughter."
Chester Williams
"It is not a matter for the family members or the police to say. Yes, I am sure that the family members would have wanted a charge of murder, and we the police would have also wanted a charge of murders, but as an attorney, I can also tell you, when we charge somebody and take a person before the court, we don't do so on what we feel, or what we want to happen, we must do so based on the evidence. The charge must be one that is supported by evidence because when we go to a court we cannot say to the court we charge for murder because the public wants us to charge for murder. That is tantamount to malicious prosecution. We must charge based on what the evidence depicts and that is exactly what we did."
Reporter
"Did you know this woman? Or did your colleagues know her?"
Chester Williams
"No, I have never met the woman any at all. I'm sure that yes, the fallen officer Mr. Jemmott knew her and he knew her well. From what our investigation reveals, they were very close friends."
An article appearing in the Daily Mail, a British newspaper quotes one island bar owner who told their reporter this about Jasmin Hartin; quote, "For some reason I think she was drawn towards police officers. I think she felt a lot safer being with them. They would dance, they would talk…"
