The mixed state of an isolated molecule, which results from one-photon absorption using a pulsed laser of arbitrary coherence, is obtained using a simple model for a partially coherent laser source. The relative effect of the pulse time tau, source coherence time tau-coh, and field correlation time tau-c on the prepared state and on its subsequent molecular dynamics are described. Numerical computations on several properties are provided and support obtained for the analytical result showing that under certain circumstances the falloff of the survival probability of the created molecular state depends primarily on the pulse time tau.