Lord of the Dance
Lawyers for convicted killers of Irish father Jason Corbett seek retrial over 'juror misconduct'
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Lawyers for convicted killers of Irish father Jason Corbett seek retrial over 'juror misconduct'

THE attorneys representing the convicted killers of Irish dad Jason Corbett have filed an appeal for their verdicts to be set aside over 'juror misconduct.' 

Molly Martens Corbett, 33, and her father Thomas Martens, 67, were found guilty by a jury in North Carolina on August 9 of second-degree murder and sentenced to a minimum of 40 years.

Their conviction came over two years after Mr Corbett, 39 and originally from Limerick, was found dead on August 2, 2015 after he was bludgeoned with a baseball bat and paving slab.

In papers filed yesterday at Davidson County Court, defence attorneys for the pair appealed for the jury verdict to be set aside, over juror misconduct.

“Post-trial, voluntary press interviews and social media posts of certain jurors portray juror misconduct throughout the proceeding that directly violates the Court’s repeated jury admonitions, North Carolina law and the Constitutional protections afforded these and all defendants in a criminal trial,” the motion says, according to local media the Winston-Salem Journal. 

The attorneys also said a judge should schedule an evidentiary hearing, set aside the jury’s verdict and grant Martens and Molly Corbett a new trial.

A hearing on the motion has not been set.