Expert weighs in on whether Molly Martens could be retried over killing of Jason Corbett

After Jason Corbett’s death has been put back into the spotlight following Netflix’s A Deadly American Marriage, many viewers have been left wondering if we can expect to see Molly and Tom Martens back in court.

Jason Corbett was bludgeoned to death in 2015 by his wife Molly, and her dad Tom. They were originally convicted of second degree murdered before the conviction was quashed. Later, they were retried and found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. They are now both out of prison.

In the documentary, Molly talks about how there were secret recording devices around the house, and mentions one in the master bedroom, where Jason was killed. However, this device was never found by police.

This revelation has led many to question whether it could have been used as evidence in the original trial, and if it were to be found, would Molly and Tom Martens be retried.

The Tab spoke to criminal lawyer Samuel E Bassett of Minton, Basset, Floret and Carsey, who provided some insight into whether the duo could be back in court anytime soon.

Sam said due to the constitutional principle of double jeopardy, Tom and Molly Martens would not be retried for the killing of Jason.

Double jeopardy is where a party who has been convicted of a crime, can not be convicted again, unless the prior conviction is overturned. Therefore, Molly and Tom would not be able to have another trial for the death of Jason.

Molly with Jason via Netflix

Sam said: “In the US, the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy would prevent a retrial on the homicide charges. Since they have already been convicted on manslaughter, no homicide charge could be filed against them.”

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He did note, however, that if the federal government came up with a different criminal charge, they could face a trial for that charge. Yet, he did explain: “I’m not sure that’s applicable in this situation”.

He added that this tends to be seen in cases such as racial killings, where the federal court would prosecute a civil rights violation, whilst the state court would prosecute the homicide.

Sam also noted that even if the now lost recording device from the bedroom was found and if it had been hidden by someone, there would be a chance that no one would be prosecuted for this due to the statute of limitations. The statue of limitations for misdemeanours such as obstruction of justice in North Carolina is two years, so it would have expired in 2017.

Therefore, it is extremely unlikely that anyone will be in court or retried for any charges that could be associated with Jason Corbett’s death.