Case Summaries -- N.C. Court of Appeals (2/4/2020)

This post summarizes opinions issued by the Court of Appeals of North Carolina on February 4, 2020. (1) Trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying defendant’s Motion for Appropriate Relief alleging juror misconduct; (2) State presented substantial circumstantial evidence to rebut defendant Molly Corbett’s exculpatory handwritten statement that she and her co-defendant father acted in lawful self-defense and defense of others in killing her husband; (3) Defendants are entitled to a new trial based on a reasonable possibility that the jury might have reached a different result, based on (a) the erroneous exclusion of hearsay statements from the victim’s children; (b) the improper admission of expert testimony regarding the untested stains on defendant Tom Martens’ boxer shorts and Molly Corbett’s pajama pants, which failed to satisfy Rule 702’s reliability requirements; and (c) the trial court’s error in sustaining the State’s motion to strike Tom’s testimony that he heard Molly scream, “Don’t hurt my dad.”; (4) Trial court committed reversible error by delivering unsupported jury instructions on the aggressor doctrine. State v. Corbett & Martens, ___ N.C. App. ___, ___ S.E.2d ___ (Feb. 4, 2019). Defendants Molly Martens Corbett (“Molly”) and Thomas Michael Martens (“Tom”), daughter and father, were convicted of second degree murder in the death of Molly’s husband, Jason Corbett (“Jason”). Evidence at trial established that Tom attempted to stop Jason from choking Molly by hitting Jason with an aluminum baseball bat. Molly also hit Jason with a brick paver. Jason’s skull was fractured from multiple blows and [...]