Court confirms $2 million bail for Sarah Hartsfield

CHAMBERS COUNTY, Texas – The First Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld the $2 million bail for a woman accused of murdering her husband, rejecting her lawyers’ request for a reduction.

Sarah Hartsfield's attorney filed an appeal in March, asking for her bail to be reduced from $2 million to $150,000 because he believed the bail amount was “excessive.”

Sarah Hartsfield is currently in the Chambers County Jail.

Hartsfield, who was married five times, was the only person with her 46-year-old husband, Joseph Hartsfield, when he was found unresponsive in their Beach City home in January 2023. The diabetic was hospitalized, where he died a week later, the coroner's office ruled due to complications from the toxic effects of insulin.

Hartsfield's bail has been reduced three times since her incarceration. She was arrested in February 2023 after being charged with murder. At the time, her bail was set at $5 million. A motion to reduce her bail was filed and her bail was reduced to $4.5 million on February 9, 2023. A second motion to reduce her bail again was filed in March 2023 and it was reduced to $4 million. Her bail was finally reduced again to $2 million in October 2023.

In the written motion for appeal, Hartsfield's attorney argued that her $2 million bail was “clearly excessive” and resulted in Hartsfield being “effectively denied bail.”

Hartsfield's attorney argued that she has a constitutional right to reasonable bail and that the court that set Hartsfield's bail made it impossible for her to post bail. The attorney argues that while murder is a serious offense, Hartsfield's bail should not be used to keep her in jail without hope of bail.

In setting Hartsfield's bail, the First Circuit Court of Appeals considered the following:

(1) The deposit and any conditions shall be sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that the undertaking will be complied with.

2. The power to require bail shall not be used in such a way as to become an instrument of oppression.

3. The nature of the offence and the circumstances in which it was committed must be taken into account.

4. The ability to provide bail shall be examined and evidence may be taken in this regard.

5. The future safety of a victim of the alleged crime, of law enforcement authorities and of the community shall be taken into account.

6. Information from the accused's criminal record will be taken into account, including any incidents of domestic violence, other pending criminal charges and any instances in which the accused has failed to appear in court after being released on bail.

7. The citizenship status of the accused must be taken into account.

After weighing all of the above factors, the First Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that “the trial court weighed the relevant factors and properly exercised its discretion in denying a further reduction of Hartsfield's bail.” It concluded that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in reducing Hartsfield's bail to $2,000,000.”

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