Martens to appeal after convictions for brutal murder of Jason upheld
THE killers of Irish businessman Jason Corbett (39) are appealing the decision of a US judge not to quash their convictions and order a new trial.
Father and daughter Thomas (67) and Molly Martens (34) are to challenge the decision by a North Carolina court not to set aside their convictions for second-degree murder on the basis of alleged jury misconduct.
That appeal is now expected to be heard in tandem with an overall challenge to their conviction at the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
Both appeals are likely to be heard in a twin-track process.
Last August, Thomas Martens, a retired FBI agent, and his daughter Molly, were convicted of the second-degree murder of Mr Corbett, her Limerick-born husband, on August 2, 2015.
They were sentenced to between 20 and 25 years in prison after being unanimously convicted by a Davidson County Superior Court jury.
Their legal teams immediately lodged a challenge to the overall conviction to the North Carolina Court of Appeals. However, they also lodged a challenge with Davidson County Superior Court after claiming the convictions were unsafe on the basis of alleged juror misconduct.
Last December, Judge David Lee rejected the challenge. He was the trial judge for the four-week murder hearing. Defence legal teams had lodged detailed submissions that certain jurors had ignored his instructions not to discuss the case before verdict deliberations began. They also challenged elements of what certain jurors said in media interviews following the trial. Judge Lee, after considering the matter for almost three months, rejected the defence applications and refused both to set aside the conviction and order a retrial. Davidson County District Attorney’s Office had vehemently opposed the Martens’ challenge and argued that there were no legal grounds for granting their applications. Lawyers for the father and daughter are now set to appeal that ruling – with both challenges set to be heard in mid-2018 by the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
No new evidence can be introduced before the Court of Appeal unless it disproves specific evidence offered at the trial.
The Court of Appeal largely revolves around legal issues of how the trial was conducted.
If that court refuses to quash the convictions, the Martens then have a single avenue of challenge left to the North Carolina Supreme Court.
Mr Corbett died from horrific head injuries sustained during a prolonged assault at the luxury home he shared with his Tennessee-born second wife at Panther Creek Court in North Carolina.
The weapons used to kill Mr Corbett were a metal baseball bat and a heavy concrete paving brick.
Prosecutors claimed during the trial that the father and daughter faked CPR attempts and then deliberately delayed calling 911 for help for the father of two.
It was also suggested Mr Corbett may have been asleep and helpless in bed when he was first attacked.