Lawyers for a woman convicted of murdering a man by driving them off a harbour in County Wicklow have opened their appeal against her conviction.
Marta Herda of Pairc na Saile, Emoclew Road in Arklow, County Wicklow is serving a life sentence for the murder of Csaba Orsas in March 2013.
Her trial heard he had fallen in love with her but that she didn't feel the same and became annoyed by his persistent advances.
Last July, eleven of the twelve jurors found Marta Herda guilty of murdering Csaba Orsas by driving her VW Passat through the crash barriers at the South Quay in Arklow, Co. Wicklow at around 6am on March 26th 2013.
Her trial heard it was a particularly cold morning and she was aware he was unable to swim.
The driver’s window was rolled down and she managed to swim to safety while Csaba’s body washed up on a beach two miles away a few hours later.
Marta Herda worked with Csaba in the Brook Lodge hotel in Wicklow where she claimed he’d fallen in love with her.
She said she was afraid of him and claimed he used to follow her home.
She said she couldn’t remember how he got into her car that morning but remembered hitting the accelerator because she couldn’t take it anymore.
Her defence barrister Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha has raised six grounds of appeal for the court to consider – among them a contention the judge didn't charge the jury correctly in relation to the fundamental question of whether she intentionally drove into the water that morning or whether it was an accident.
He said that was one of their main points of appeal.
He also criticised the trial judge for not making a single mention of the word “reckless” during his charge to the jury.
He said it was agreed in the absence of the jury that they would be told that a verdict of manslaughter was more appropriate if they felt the driving into the water arouse from recklessness on behalf of his client.
Mr Ó Lideadha also raised issues in relation to the admissibility of certain alleged confessions Ms Herda made directly after the incident - particularly when the nurse and garda who gave evidence of same accepted the possibility of a miscommunication or misunderstanding.
The appeal is expected to take a day and a half.
