A North Carolina judge set a date for the retrial of Molly and Tom Martens in the death of Jason Corbett, a Limerick businessman who was killed in August 2015.
Judge David Hall announced that jury selection for the murder trial will begin 26 June 2023.
Mr Hall said that both prosecution and defence attorneys had worked toward expediting the trial, but there were “realities that could not be overcome” in the long-awaited proceedings that will transpire nine months from now.
Nearly 18 months after the North Carolina Supreme Court upheld a decision to overturn the second-degree murder convictions of a father and daughter, both appeared before Judge Hall, who is expected to preside over a new trial.
Molly and Tom Martens, who are free on bond, were appearing in court for the second time this year, the first coming in March for a preliminary hearing. David and Tracey Corbett-Lynch, the sister of Jason Corbett, as well as Jason’s daughter, Sarah, were in the courtroom for the announcement.
Along with the trial date, Judge Hall laid out a timeline of firm dates that will resolve outstanding issues in advance of the trial. Both sides will convene on 16 November and 9 January to address any remaining items pertaining to discovery.
17 March 2023 is set as the deadline for attorneys to notify opposing counsel of expert testimony and any witnesses who will be called during the trial. Pretrial motions will be heard by Judge Hall on 12 June 2023 and the trial itself could extend well into July, as it is expected to take several weeks.
“Each of these things require time to digest,” Judge Hall said, alluding to the holidays as further deterrents that extended the time necessary before the retrial commences.
The judge offered yet another stern warning to those in attendance regarding procedures leading up to June. He implored for a second time those associated with the prosecution and defence to refrain from speaking about matters involving the case.
“I have ordered in writing that there will be no extrajudicial statements … about anything pertaining to this trial,” the judge said. “There have been instances with the defence and the state who have made extrajudicial statements, some benign and others regarding facts.
“If it happens again, there will be a contempt hearing.”
Davidson County Assistant District Attorney Alan Martin addressed Judge Hall after he made those remarks, offering that in the interest of fairness, he must note that he was unaware of any such statements by the defence. He stated that he observed no instance of improper communications by the opposing side, acknowledging that the judge was simply being fairhanded by including them in the warning issued.
Nevertheless, Judge Hall continued, the warning stands and failure to adhere to his order will result in serious consequences.
Jason Corbett’s son Jack was not in the courtroom for Wednesday’s hearing. Family members had expressed their hope the trial would take place soon to avoid any further interference with Jack and Sarah’s education.
At the first trial in the summer of 2017, neither Jack nor Sarah testified. Statements they made to social workers at the Dragonfly House Advocacy Center in Mocksville, North Carolina were excluded as evidence at the first trial, one of the reasons the convictions of Molly and Tom Martens were overturned.
The N.C. Court of Appeals and the N.C. Supreme Court found that the exclusion of those statements prohibited the accused from making their case in claiming self defense.
The first trial, which began 17 July 2017 and ran for 17 days, revealed that Jason Corbett, 39, was beaten to death at his home in the Meadowlands golf course community of Wallburg, North Carolina.
Davidson County assistant district attorneys claimed that Molly and Tom Martens beat Jason Corbett to death with a baseball bat and a paving stone. Expert testimony indicated his skull was crushed after at least 12 blows to the head.
US judge sets date for retrial of Molly and Tom Martens
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