Carla is the daughter of Charles W. Martin and Jean D. Henderson.[1][2] She was born in Washington, D.C. and her family lived there until she was 9.[1] Her father was an attorney who worked for the federal government in the 1950s until 1963 when he went into private practice in Tennessee, resulting in the family moving there.[1] Her mother is a former government secretary and assistant.[1]
Martin was responsible, as FAA counsel, for the Pan Am Flight 103/Lockerbie bombing case for several years, both the civil litigation trial in 1992 against Pan American World Airways in New York, as well as the criminal prosecution of the Lockerbie bomber defendants Megrahi and Fhimah in the Scottish court at Zeist, Netherlands in 2000. Ms. Martin's work in the civil litigation case is chronicled in the book by aviation security expert Rodney Wallis, Lockerbie: The Story and the Lessons.[6] Her job then was to protect information about airline security, sensitive security information (SSI), from entering the trial’s public record.[7]
Martin was also involved in the prosecution of Richard Reid, the shoe bomber.[8]
Moussaoui trial
While working for the Federal Aviation Administration, Martin was assigned to the case of United States v. Zacarias Moussaoui and continued her work on that case after transferring to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in 2002. During the sentencing trial in March 2006, Judge Leonie Brinkema learned that Martin contacted seven FAA witnesses in an apparent violation of a court order.[9] Martin denied any wrongdoing in connection with her work on the Moussaoui trial.[10] The federal investigation concerning Martin's work in the case was dropped, without public comment or elaboration, in September 2006.[11]
^ abSniffen, Michael J. (2006) "Prosecutor Used Transcript to Aid Witness". Associated Press. March 13, 2006. Found at "View - redOrbit". Archived from the original on 2011-08-10. Retrieved 2008-01-08. - Accessed January 8, 2008
^ abLabaton, Stephen and Matthew L. Wald. (2006) "Lawyer Thrust Into Spotlight After Misstep in Terror Case". New York Times, March 14, 2006. Found at [1] - Accessed January 8, 2008
^Hirschkorn, Phil (2006) "Who is Carla Martin and why is she in trouble?" CNN, March 17, 2006. Found at [2] - Accessed January 8, 2008
^Miller, Leslie. (2006) "Lawyer in Moussaoui Case Placed on Leave," March 16, 2006, Found at [www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/03/16/lawyer_in_moussaoui_case_placed_on_leave/?rss_id=boston.com] - Accessed January 8, 2008
^"Feds Decline to Prosecute Government Lawyer Who Coached Moussaoui Witnesses." Associated Press. October 4, 2006. [3] - Accessed January, 2008
Markon, Jerry. (2006) "Investigations, Lawsuits Still Dogging 9/11 Lawyer". The Washington Post. July 10, 2006. Found at [4] - Accessed January 8, 2008