Paediatrician who attended Jason Corbett's children must release notes

A US court has ordered that the paediatrician who attended the children of a murdered Irish man must release her notes to the woman accused of killing him.

Molly Martens, aged 33, who is charged with the second-degree murder and manslaughter of Limerick native Jason Corbett, had the subpoena seeking the records granted to her last week. The court also ordered the victim’s cardiologist to release Mr Corbett’s medical records to the defence solicitors.

Mr Corbett, 39, was found dead in the early hours of August 2, 2015, in the home he shared with his wife Ms Martens in Panther Creek, Wallburg, North Carolina.

Ms Martens’ father, Thomas Martens, 66, has also been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter.

Mr Corbett’s two children from a previous marriage were seen by a specialist paediatrician in the days following his death.

Now Dr Evelyn Amy Suttle of Dragonfly House, North Carolina, has been instructed to produce all “medical records, reports, notes, forms, or other documents generated” relating to the medical examinations of Jack and Sarah Corbett during their time at the children’s advocacy centre.

Court documents released last week have revealed the Superior Court of Davidson County in North Carolina last week ruled Ms Martens’ right to a fair trial “outweighs any confidentiality statutes or other confidential protections shielding the requested documents from production and the interests of justice require the materials be produced”.

Last June attorneys acting for Ms Martens had sought a court order preventing the use of a statement given by Jack Corbett as evidence. They claimed the statement, given in Limerick where the Corbett children now live with their aunt, was given “under coercive circumstances without any of the safeguards to ensure trustworthiness or reliability”.

In that motion to exclude the statement, Ms Martens’ attorney claimed that while at the Dragonfly Centre the Corbett children said their father “would physically and verbally abuse” Ms Martens.

“Sarah reported that: Her dad started fights with her mom for ridiculous reasons; he would hurt her mom... she saw her dad step on her mom’s foot, pull her mom’s hair, roll over her mom’s foot with the car, hit her mom in the face,” the documents filed by Ms Martens’ attorney read.

“Jack reported that: His dad would physically and verbally abuse his mom; he would punch, hit and push her... he would scream, get mad and cuss more, he was getting angrier; his mom would try to get him to stop but his dad was strong,” the documents claimed.

Last week Ms Martens’ legal team were also successful in obtaining an order directing the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Centre to release “all medical treatment records from the Cardiology Department and Dr Joseph Yeboah” for Mr Corbett for the five years preceding his death.

In its motion for subpoena, Ms Martens’ attorney said they believe the records may contain information that will be favourable for her defence case.