A woman who was almost five times the legal blood alcohol limit when she ran over her partner on private property north of Brisbane has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter.
Clive Douglas Crandley, 56, died after being trapped under a vehicle driven by Elisabeth Mary Coman on a property at Wamuran, about 60km north of Brisbane, on 28 July in 2018.
The case is being heard before Justice Martin Burns alone after he granted the defence's request for a no-jury trial.
Coman's lawyer Michael Copley QC expressed concerns that the availability of one or more jurors during the trial, which is set down for five days, could potentially be affected by the outbreak of coronavirus.
Coman, 54, sat quietly in the dock as a series of photos of the deceased appeared on-screen showing him trapped under the driver's side wheel of a white Hyundai i30 in the front yard of the Newlands Rd property.
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Her manslaughter charge comes under domestic violence and relates to the dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death or grievous bodily harm whilst adversely affected by an intoxicating substance.
The court heard she returned a preliminary breath test of .257 on-site before a later test confirmed it was .241.
Constable Leigh Oakley, who along with two other officers were first to arrive the on the scene, told the court it took them 18 minutes to reach the property. The house is set well back from the road down a long and narrow unsealed curving driveway.
Police vehicle dashcam footage was played to the court and showed the vehicle passing through three sets of gates, one which had to be opened, and driving along the unlit driveway.
The police vehicle then turns off the driveway and on to grass where the headlights illuminate the Hyundai which was positioned on top of Crandley.
"I swung the headlights towards the front of the other car and I saw the deceased," Constable Oakley said.
"I stopped the car thinking I'd observe the scene and then the other two (officers) got out) and I got out."
He said Coman co-operated with his request for a preliminary breath test.
Another series of photos showed the Hyundai had been driven for several metres off the unsealed driveway before it came to rest on the victim.
Replaying the dashcam footage, Mr Copely pointed out to Const. Oakley that when he arrived on scene there were no lights visible on the property, nor the house, other than the headlights of the Hyundai. He agreed.
The trial continues.
