A Chattanooga man who is accused of fatally stabbing a 22-year-old woman and disposing of her body in the Tennessee River is set to face a jury Monday in Hamilton County Criminal Court.
Jason Chen, 24, is charged with first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in connection with Jasmine Pace’s death.
Pace disappeared around Thanksgiving 2022, and her family and authorities searched for her for more than a week.
Here are some key facts and elements of the high-profile case to be aware of before the evidence fully unfolds at trial.
EVIDENCE ISSUES
There were many alleged issues with the collection of evidence and the overall investigation of Chen. His defense attorney, Joshua Weiss, may use those issues to poke holes in the prosecutor’s case.
Pace’s mother and other family members are believed to have used a credit card to Jimmy Chen’s apartment door open in order to search for her, according to the family’s previous court testimony.
They found her bag, driver’s license and credit card inside, so they contacted Chattanooga police. Pace’s family returned to Chen’s apartment on two or three other occasions and took some of his personal belongings, which included a tablet, a gaming console, tax returns and a lease agreement, her mother, Catrina Pace, previously testified.
No one was cited or arrested for criminal trespassing, burglary or tampering with evidence.
Tennessee criminal defense attorney Rob McKinney previously told the Chattanooga Times Free Press it is “really, really weird” that Pace’s family broke into Chen’s apartment on multiple occasions, calling the case legally complex with a lot of gray area.
(READ MORE: ‘Lots of gray area’: Effort to dismiss evidence against Jason Chen to be heard)
NO DEATH PENALTY
Chen is not facing the death penalty.
As of Wednesday, Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp had not filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty, according to the criminal court clerk’s office.
When a person is charged with a capital offense, a district attorney must file a notice of intention not less than 30 days before trial if he or she intends to argue in favor of a death sentence, according to Tennessee rules of criminal procedure.
Tennessee district attorneys can seek the penalty if there are aggravating circumstances present in the case, such as if a defendant knowingly mutilated the body of a victim after death or if a murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse beyond that necessary to produce death.
Wamp did not respond to a text message asking for the reasoning behind her decision.
NO CHEN TESTIMONY
Chen is not expected to testify on his own behalf, and there may be translators used during the course of the trial, according to statements made by Weiss.
In a recent motion, Weiss requested prosecutors not be allowed to mention anything to jurors that could draw attention to Chen’s constitutional right not to self incriminate.
Weiss also requested the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts pay for a translator, so the jury can understand possible witnesses who don’t speak English, he said Jan. 2.
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GRUESOME DEATH
Pace’s death has been repeatedly referred to as particularly gruesome.
Chattanooga investigator Zack Crawford testified at a bond hearing that the blood found in Chen’s Tremont Street apartment, where Pace was allegedly killed, was the largest amount he’d ever seen.
Pace was allegedly found stabbed 60 times, shackled and stuffed inside a suitcase with a knife tip broken off in her chest, according to Chief Homicide Prosecutor Paul Moyle.
Chen’s defense motioned to limit the use of the medical examiner’s photos of Pace at trial, which Judge Boyd Patterson overruled Jan. 2. That day, Patterson warned the courtroom the images are graphic and may be upsetting.
A jury from Davidson County is being used and will be sequestered throughout, in part, due to the case being highly publicized prior to the trial.
HIGH BOND
Chen’s bond was set at $5 million, which is one of the highest bonds the county has ever seen.
“His bond is the highest single bond of anyone in Hamilton County that I am aware of at the present time,” Judge Larry Ables said in December 2022.
Contact Sofia Saric at ssaric@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.