DOC officer accused of running a woman over pleads guilty

A former Department of Corrections officer accused of running over a woman’s leg in a fit of rage has recently pleaded guilty to the assault and battery charge filed against her.

Former DOC officer Jessme Jones Martin pleaded guilty to one count of assault and battery last week before Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph Camacho in the case where she was accused of running a woman’s leg over in a fit of rage.

In exchange for her guilty plea, the government dropped the remaining charges against her to include assault with a dangerous weapon and disturbing the peace.

For pleading guilty to assault and battery, 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 served.

In his judgment and commitment order, Camacho said Martin will be placed on three years’ probation after serving her sentence.

The judge, after the hearing, ordered the CNMI Marshals Service to take Martin into custody so she could begin serving her sentence.

According to court documents, at around 4:18pm on Nov. 6, 2023, police responded to a disturbing the peace call at a residence in Kagman. There police met four women, one of them being Martin.

Police noted that one of the women, later identified as Camille Torres, claimed that Martin hit her with her car.

Torres, in an interview with police, said she and Martin’s husband, Nicko Martin, were earlier inside the residence when they heard shouting and things being thrown around.

Torres said it was Jessme Martin who was outside the house and she was trying to kick the door open.

Torres said Nicko Martin later opened the door and tried to hold on to Jessme Martin as Torres tried to run out of the house; however, she claims that Jessme Martin and two other women charged at her and began beating her.

While she was on the ground, Torres claims Martin got into her car and ran over her left leg.

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.