A three-judge panel heard oral arguments Thursday in Raleigh, from attorneys for Thomas Martens and Molly Corbett, who are appealing their second-degree murder convictions in the beating death of Ms. Corbett’s husband, Jason Corbett, in August 2015.The father and daughter are in jail serving 20- to 25-year sentences after a jury found the pair guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Jason Corbett. The trial was held in Davidson County court in 2017. Ms. Corbett and Martens were not present for Thursday's hearing.Irishman Jason Corbett, whose family traveled from Ireland to the North Carolina Court of Appeals on Thursday, was beaten to death with a baseball bat and brick paver inside the couple’s Davidson County home. Several members of his family sat in the front row at Thursday’s hearing.Martens and Ms. Corbett claim self-defense. Their attorneys allege the duo did not receive a fair trial. They are raising several issues on appeal, including alleged juror misconduct. They are also challenging testimony from experts during the trial, specifically from a blood spatter expert.The defense attorney for Ms. Corbett, Douglas Kingsbery, argued that during the trial, prosecutors never presented evidence that Ms. Corbett was an aggressor during the beating, and said the charge against her should not have gone to the jury.Defense attorneys argue another issue is the trial court’s exclusion of what they believe is key evidence to the case: testimony from Mr. Corbett’s two young children from a previous marriage. Mr. Corbett’s first wife and the children’s mother, Margaret Fitzpatrick Corbett, died of an asthma attack in 2006. Martens attorney, David Freedman, argues that another key statement was left out of the trial, which would have given more context to show Martens’ state of mind the night Mr. Corbett was killed. He said Martens claims he had a previous conversation with Margaret Fitzpatrick Corbett’s father, who said that he believed Mr. Corbett may have been responsible for Ms. Fitzpatrick Corbett’s death. In a sworn written statement, Mr. Fitzpatrick said he never had that conversation with Martens. Mr. Fitzpatrick passed away before the trial. Freedman said the conversation still gives the jury context to understand Martens’ state of mind on the night of the attack. Freedman said instead, all the jury heard was that Martens had a previous conversation with a co-worker, four months prior to the beating, about how he “hated” Mr. Corbett and that he was upset that he drank and smoked too much at a house party.Freedman argued the exclusions were in error and prejudicial to his client during the trial. Attorneys for the state, Jonathan Babb and Mike Dodd, argued the physical evidence presented during the trial contradicts Martens and Ms. Corbett’s self defense claims, including a lack of injury on either of the defendants. Prosecuting attorneys asked the panel to review photographs presented as evidence during the trial to help substantiate the contradiction. Dodd said the case is clear and believes the trial jury’s convictions should hold.“This case seems strange to me,” he said. “I do not know why the prosecutor brought this as a second-degree murder case. It appears to me there was at least evidence to bring this as a first-degree murder case.”Oral arguments ended after about an hour and a half Thursday. Martens attorney said he’s pleased with how the hearing went.“I never try to predict what a court is going to do,” Freedman said. “What it gave me an indication of is they truly understood the case and took it very seriously. That’s all we could ever ask for.”Ms. Corbett’s uncle, Mike Earnest, sat in the courtroom among other family members and friends of the defendants. After the hearing he said, “Tom and Molly are innocent. They should be set free, but at the very least, they should be given a new trial. A fair trial.” The panel of judges did not render a decision on Thursday. There is no timeline for when we could expect one.