While the Padres spent much of Tuesday attempting to ascertain the facts of what appears to have been a very ugly domestic incident late Monday night at the outfielder's Scottsdale apartment, Martin spent the day holed up in his Scottsdale house with his first wife while attempting to sort through the wreckage of what had been a promising new start in San Diego.

"On Al's behalf right now, he is very emotional and embarrassed," said San Diego general manager Kevin Towers who, along with Padres owner John Moores, visited with Martin and his first wife, Cathy, for 90 minutes Tuesday afternoon. "He's only been in the organization for two weeks, he was getting to know his teammates, and to have something like this happen...

"Al needs to spend some time with his wife and clear his mind."

As pieces of a very twisted situation came to light Tuesday, that appeared to be the least of what Martin needs to do.

The facts are these:

• Martin's first wife is named Cathy, and the couple has one son, Brandon, 8.
• According to records in Clark County, Nev., Martin was married to Shawn Michelle Haggerty-Martin on Dec. 11, 1998. He remains married to Cathy as well.
• Martin and his second wife, Shawn, both were arrested and spent Monday night in jail after Scottsdale police received a phone call at 8:37 p.m. reporting a family fight.
• Upon arraignment Tuesday, Martin was charged with assault-physical injury and threatening or intimidating. Shawn Haggerty-Martin was charged with assault-domestic violence.
• Scottsdale police Sgt. Doug Dirren said the police will be investigating whether to file bigamy charges against Al Martin.

Moores declined comment Tuesday until the club investigates further. Towers, appearing shell shocked at the end of a stunning, whirlwind day, said that, for now, there will be no punishment until all of the facts are in.

"We certainly don't condone it. It's unacceptable," Towers said. "But (before) we come down on Al, we need to get all of the facts."

Everybody involved was still sorting through a volatile situation on Tuesday that, according to a report obtained from the Scottsdale police department, was ugly from every angle.

Haggerty-Martin told police the argument began when Martin came home about 8:30 p.m. and it was about the fact that he was still married to another woman. According to the report, "she started hitting Albert out of frustration. She stopped hitting him and said she was going to call 911. She was sitting on the bed and then Albert punched her in the mouth. She called 911. Before police arrived, Albert left."

Police noticed that Shawn had a swollen face near the corner of her mouth and chin on the left side and, shortly afterward, Martin phoned the apartment and agreed to return to the residence when asked to do so by the police.

When Martin arrived, police observed that he had "a scratch across the bridge of his nose and also behind his left ear. His shirt was torn and there were several small spots of blood on his shirt."

Police interviewed both parties before arresting them, during which Shawn told them that "Albert has been abusive on many occasions before. She said that he had beaten her severely a couple of years ago in Orlando, Fla., requiring her to go to the hospital. She said since moving to Scottsdale, they have had several fights and he has threatened her. She said a couple of months ago, Albert pinned her to the bed, choking her, and stuck the barrel of a stainless steel gun in her mouth and threatened to kill her."

She also told police that on Monday night, "Albert said, 'If you cheat on me, lie to me, betray me, I will O.J. your ass so quick. I will torture you. I'll tie you up and cut you and pour alcohol on you.'"

In a separate interview with police, when asked about having two wives, Martin said that he and Shawn "had a ceremony in Las Vegas a couple of years ago but he did not think that it was real."

While Martin was unavailable for comment on Tuesday, Towers said he expects the outfielder to take a day or two to clear his mind and then return to spring camp. Several questions now surround his baseball career, though, starting with whether or not he will land in jail. Then, because it's before his April 12 court date, there's the question of whether Martin will even be allowed to leave the country during a Padres' season-opening trip that includes a stop in Montreal from April 7-9.

As for the Padres, at the very least, they have a very sudden and very large public relations fiasco on their hands. Martin has been a Padre for barely a month, having been obtained from Pittsburgh on Feb. 23. This is an organization that has conducted itself with class ever since Moores took over ownership in the mid-1990s. Moores is even on record as saying that the way players conduct themselves is very important to him.

San Diego GM Kevin Towers says the team is going to wait before making a decision on Al Martin.(AP)

The Padres want to make sure to hear Martin's side of the story before they do anything although, in the meantime, they are sure to get roasted both locally and nationally -- especially by women's groups.

Asked if he was aware of any hint of trouble in Martin's personal life when he traded for him a few weeks ago, Towers was unequivocal.

"Absolutely not," Towers said. "That's something, as a GM, you always ask other GMs the big three questions: Is he physically well? Is he mentally well? Is there anything else we should be aware of?

"Cam Bonifay (Pittsburgh's general manager) said he's a solid citizen. I asked (former Pirate) Ed Sprague about it this morning and he wasn't aware of anything."

Towers said Tuesday that Martin hadn't even had a chance to see the police report.

"(Haggerty-Martin) is an acquaintance of his, someone he's known for four or five years," Towers said. "His wife (Cathy) knows of her. They've had some problems in the past. He got himself into a situation and he isn't sure how to get out of it.

"At the right time, he's looking forward to getting out his side of the story."

For the sake of both Martin and the Padres, his side of the story had better include some very good answers to some very hard questions. Because the way it looks right now, this thing isn't going to go away anytime soon. And Martin has one heck of a lot of explaining to do.