A DATE has been set for the retrial of Molly and Tom Martens for the death of Jason Corbett.
Mr Corbett (39)was killed in North Carolina in August 2015, and the father and daughter were convicted to 20 to 25 years jail time in 2017.
However, three years later, the North Carolina Court of Appeals overturned the convictions, saying errors had been made that were so prejudicial it denied the Martens a fair 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, the judge laid out a timeline of dates that will resolve outstanding issues in advance of the trial.
He also urged all parties involved to refrain from speaking publicly about the trial.
Mr Corbett's children Sarah and Jack were in the house at the time of his death.
Sarah, who is now 16, tweeted following the setting of the trial date, saying:
"So the person who murdered my dad, abused me shared all my images and my private notes to the whole world is ok to do so but I can’t talk? Where is my protection? my freedom of speech ? I will speak the truth about MY Life!"
So the person who murdered my dad, abused me shared all my images and my private notes to the whole world is ok to do so but I can’t talk? Where is my protection? my freedom of speech ? I will speak the truth about MY Life! #justiceforjason #Freedomofspeech
— sarahcorbettlynch (@sarahcorbettly1) September 21, 2022
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.
They indicated to social workers that their father was emotionally and physically abusive to Molly, something they later recanted in Ireland.
The exclusion of those statements was found to have prohibited the Martens' ability to claim self defence.
In the first trial it was argued that Jason was beaten to death with a baseball bat and paving stone by the Martens.
Expert testimony indicated his skull was crushed after at least 12 blows to the head.
