Judge moves Corbett/Martens murder trial to Forsyth County
DAVIDSON COUNTY - The judge in the Molly Corbett and Thomas Martens murder retrial has ordered that the new trial be held in Forsyth County.
Judge David Hall, a Forsyth County Superior Court judge assigned to the case, stated in his ruling on Friday the defendants could not receive a fair and impartial trial in Davidson County.
“The interests of justice would clearly be best served in this matter by changing the venue to Forsyth County,” wrote Hall.
Corbett and her father face second-degree murder charges in the 2015 homicide of her husband, Irish businessman Jason Corbett. Jury selection is set to begin June 26.
In December, Douglas Kingsbery, the attorney for Molly Corbett, filed a motion to have the trial moved, arguing that family members of Jason Corbett had not abided by a gag order, and their comments to media outlets made it impossible to have an impartial jury in Davidson County.
Hall issued the gag order in September, prohibiting attorneys, witnesses and staff members from making any public statements about the case outside the courtroom. He stated his concerns about the international media interest in the case due to the fact that the victim was from Ireland.
Kingsbery stated during a hearing Dec. 1 that family members of the victim continued to make public statements about the case.
Jason Corbett’s sister, Tracey Corbett Lynch, talked about the case in a book which came out in October and did interviews with radio stations, TV stations and newspapers in Ireland to promote the book.
During the hearing on Dec. 1, Hall noted all the local, national and international news outlets that have covered the case and said the media coverage threatened the possibility of a fair trial.
The trial will be the second for Corbett and Martens after the North Carolina Supreme Court upheld a ruling by the N.C. Court of Appeals that overturned their 2017 second-degree murder convictions.
Court documents state that in 2015, Martens, who is a former FBI agent, and his wife were visiting Jason and Molly Corbett and their children at their home in Davidson County. During the original trial, Martens said he was awakened by an argument between his daughter and son-in-law and went with an aluminum baseball bat to their bedroom, where he found Jason Corbett attacking his daughter.
During the fight between Jason Corbett, Molly Corbett and Martens, Jason Corbett was killed. The autopsy report said he died from blunt-force trauma to the head from a baseball bat and a garden paver.
A medical examiner testified that Jason Corbett had been hit in the head at least 12 times and that his skull was crushed.
Martens and Molly Corbett said they acted in self-defense.
After their conviction, they were sentenced to 25 years in prison.
The appeals court said that blood spatter analysis and testimony of the couple's children about past abusive behavior should have been allowed during the trial.
In March 2021 the North Carolina Supreme Court agreed and ordered a new trial.
Corbett and Martens were released on bail in April 2021.
This article originally appeared on The Dispatch: Judge moves Corbett/Martens murder trial to Forsyth County
