MOLLY AND HER DAD DIDN’T DO CPR ON JASON, TRIAL TOLD
911 operator told prosecutors Ms Martens was ‘surprisingly calm’
THE opening day of the Molly Martens murder trial has heard that a 911 operator didn’t believe either Molly or her co-accused father Tom were attempting CPR on Jason Corbett.
Prosecutors said the female dispatcher took an emergency call from a ‘surprisingly calm’ Mr Martens in the early hours of August 2, 2015, the date Molly’s husband Jason was bludgeoned to death.
She said she did not believe Ms Martens or her father were actually trying to revive the Limerick father of two, the trial heard yesterday.
Ms Martens, 34, and her 66-yearold father are charged with
second-degree murder of Mr Corbett. Both deny the charges and claim they were acting in self-defence.
The bloodied remains of Mr Corbett, 39, were found in his luxury home in Panther Creek Court, Wallburg, North Carolina, in the early hours of August 2, 2015.
On the date in question, Mr Martens made a 911 call from Mr Corbett’s family home at 3.05am and explained to the operator that there had been an argument between Jason and Molly.
The call lasts 14 minutes and 27 seconds. Over half of it is taken up with the dispatcher instructing Ms Martens and her father on how to administer CPR.
The operator who took that call will be the first witness for the state after opening statements today.
Yesterday, during pre-trial discussion in the absence of the jury, the defence raised concerns over pretrial statements the operator has made to the prosecution in which she alleges that Mr Martens was ‘surprisingly calm’ during the call.
The operator is also alleged to have said that she had ‘never spoken to a caller who was so calm’ during a 911 emergency call.
Lawyers for Mr Martens have moved to prevent the 911 operator’s ‘comments’ being heard in court.
In response, lawyers for the State told the court that they do not intend to question the witness about her observations.
She felt ‘they were not doing CPR’
‘She [the witness] was of the opinion that they were not actually doing CPR,’ said Assistant District Attorney Ina Stanton.
‘The state has no intention of asking her about that on the stand.’
Jones Byrd, one of two defence lawyers representing retired FBI agent Mr Martens, said that the 911 recording ‘should speak for itself’.
He added that there was further concern that other emergency response personnel who attended the scene may offer ‘observations’ in evidence.
These, he said, included statements about ‘the temperature of Mr Corbett’s body’ and whether blood in certain areas was ‘wet or dry’. He added that inferences could be drawn from these observations and that there could be evidence to the contrary.
A jury of nine women and three men was finally agreed by the prosecution and two defence teams on Friday.
The process of selecting two alternate jurors, who will only be used if one of the original 12 jurors is unable to continue until the conclusion of the trial and the deliberation on a verdict, continued yesterday.
During examination of one prospective alternate juror, David Freedman, defence attorney for Tom Martens, said Mr Corbett was the ‘alleged victim’ in the case.
‘It is for the jury to decide whether Mr Corbett is indeed the alleged victim in this case,’ he said.
‘And whether or not a crime took place at all.’
One alternate, a male, was seated yesterday morning.
Members of Mr Corbett’s Limerick family have travelled to Lexington in North Carolina for the trial.
Those attending include his twin brother Wayne as well as sisters Marilyn and Tracey and the latter’s husband David Lynch.
Last week Mr Lynch, who is the executor of his brother-in-law’s estate and has guardianship of Mr Corbett’s two children, Jack and Sarah, lodged a civil lawsuit alleging wrongful death.
The lawsuit, lodged before Davidson County Superior Court, names Molly Martens and Thomas Martens as defendants.
Prosecutors have indicated that the second-degree murder case will include significant circumstantial evidence as well as testimony from multiple police witnesses including Lieutenant Detective Wanda Thompson, who led the investigation into Mr Corbett’s death.
Last week, prosecutors said that the trial will involve an element of alleged domestic violence.
Attorneys for the defence have indicated that two of Ms Martens’s brothers will take the stand to testify in her defence.
Jury members have been warned that some photographs of the Panther Creek home will be both ‘gruesome’ and ‘gory,’ depicting substantial blood spatters on the bedroom floor and walls as well as in the hallway and bathroom.
Photographs taken at the postmortem examination of the head injuries sustained by Mr Corbett will also be shown.
The trial is expected to last two to three weeks.