Who is popular today?

Molly Martens and her father Thomas have left jail in North Carolina, as a judge released them on bail pending a retrial in the Jason Corbett murder trial.
Ms Martens (37) left the Davidson County jail shortly after 4 pm without speaking to reporters.
Her father Thomas (71) left at 5.15 pm. Speaking as he left the jail he said he was “glad to be back” with his family.

Molly Martens leaving prison with her lawyer (right)


They were both granted release on a $200,000 bond at a sitting of the Davidson County Courthouse in North Carolina. They were also forced to surrender their passports and banned from having any contact with the family of Mr Corbett and his two children Jack and Sarah.
The pair had been held in the district jail since last week, having been transferred from federal prison following a decision by the North Carolina Supreme Court to uphold an appeal court ruling quashing their conviction for the murder of Mr Corbett in 2015.
The Limerick man died after being attacked at his home he shared with Ms Martens and his two children in North Carolina.
Ms Martens and her father Thomas, a retired FBI agent, were charged with murder in the second degree following a trial in August 2017.
The attorney for Thomas Martens declined to comment on any discussions on a possible plea bargain between the Davidson County District Attorney and the defendants which would avoid a retrial – a prospect that the family of James Corbett have strongly opposed.
But in a statement following yesterday’s hearing, Mr Corbett’s sister Tracey Corbett Lynch said that the District Attorney of Davidson County had decided to proceed with a retrial rather than seek a plea deal.
“We welcome today’s decision by Garry Frank, the District Attorney for Davidson County, to seek a retrial of Tom and Molly Martens for the murder of Jason Corbett, a loving, kind, father of two who was beaten to death in his own home,” said Ms Corbett Lynch and her husband David Lynch who have legal guardianship of Jack and Sarah Corbett.
“We look forward to a date being set for a retrial at the earliest opportunity.”
“The District Attorney’s determination to seek a retrial in this case ensures that our six-year fight for justice for Jason continues,” she added. “[He] has shown today that Jason’s life is of equal importance to all others, even those of the well-connected and welthy defendants who admitted killing him.”
While the Martens’s legal counsel did not rule out a plea deal, a retrial is not expected to take place before next year.
During Wednesday’s hearings, attorney for the state, Alan Martin, recounted the details of the 2017 murder trial, describing in graphic detail how Mr Corbett had suffered severe injuries to the head when he was attacked by his wife Molly and her father.
Mr Martens (71) and his daughter (39) were led into the court in handcuffs and ankle shackles shortly before the 2pm bail hearing, which lasted less than an hour.

Thomas Martens in a screengrab from Court proceedings


Mr Martens was wearing an orange jump suit, while Ms Martens was dressed in a navy boiler suit. Her hair was tied in a bun.
Mr Martin argued that the bond should be set at $1 million, but this was rejected by the judge. Instead, he put the bond at $200,000 – the same level as the bond agreed during their pre-trial agreement while awaiting the original trial.
The court was told that Mr Martens and his daughter posed no flight risk, while Mr Martens had been a “model inmate.”
Mr Martens’s wife was also receiving treatment for cancer and was present in court. Also at the hearing were Molly Martens’s three brothers and their spouses.