Marta Herda appeals murder conviction

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Marta Herda received a mandatory life sentence for murder and began an appeal against her conviction at the Court of Appeal. The proceedings were reported on 18 July 2017.

She had pleaded not guilty to murdering 31-year-old Csaba Orsos. A Central Criminal Court jury convicted her, and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy sentenced her on 28 July 2016.

According to the report, shortly before 6am on 26 March 2013, Herda drove her Volkswagen Passat through barriers at South Quay in Arklow, knowing her passenger could not swim. She got out through the driver’s window. His body was recovered from a nearby beach that day; a postmortem established drowning as the cause of death, rather than crash injuries. The trial heard that the handbrake was applied before the car reached the water and only the driver’s window was open.

Her counsel, Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha SC, argued that evidence of her state of mind or deliberate intent consisted only of alleged confessions. He said she had never stated that she knowingly drove into the river, and nobody suggested she was attempting suicide. He questioned the alleged plan to drive through barriers into the water and escape through an open window.

He also argued that the circumstantial evidence did not establish murder and that the trial judge lacked a legal basis for directing the jury that it could support that verdict.

Brendan Grehan SC, representing the Director of Public Prosecutions, argued that Herda intentionally drove into the sea, passing through two barriers at high speed. He said she had not testified, but jurors had watched extensive Garda interviews and could assess her command of English. He described her as articulate.

His submissions were due to continue before Mr Justice George Birmingham, Mr Justice Alan Mahon and Ms Justice Máire Whelan.