Chante Lee White faces Townsville Magistrates Court over stabbing murder of Kayla Golding
After lengthy delays, the accused murderer of Townsville woman, Kayla Golding, is close to finding out what was in the full brief of evidence against her.
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The woman charged with murdering Kayla Golding will remain in custody while the evidence against her is reviewed, a court has heard.
Chante Lee White, 30, had her case mentioned in Townsville Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Kayla Golding was found bleeding out with a life-threatening neck wound on the footpath of a Riverway Drive unit block about 7.20pm on May 21, 2021, and later died.
White was subsequently charged with murder and remains behind bars.
A time-consuming process was ongoing to assemble the full brief of evidence for the case.
Police prosecutor Luay Allawy provided an update regarding the progress of the brief.
He confirmed the prosecution team had received the brief of evidence from the arresting officer.
Mr Allawy requested a further adjournment to complete the review process before it was disclosed.
White’s case was adjourned until October 21.
Chante Lee White, 29, is charged over the alleged murder of Kayla Golding, 29.
Meanwhile, her co-accused, Jamie Alan Mcauliffe, 40, who was charged with being an accessory to the murder, also had his matter heard in the Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
The court heard that he allegedly made plans with White to flee to Weipa and he was accused of contacting a witness.
A protracted wait for a full brief of evidence led Mcauliffe being released on bail.
Police prosecutor Tim Madsen told the court on August 31 that all material had been received and “needed time to be put together”, and would be released within a fortnight.
Addressing the matter, police prosecutor Kellie Mythen said she had received the full brief of evidence that morning, and after checking it over, would disclose it on Wednesday “so as to prevent any further unnecessary delay”.
She said it was “not unusual” for a brief of evidence relating to a murder charge, which relied on records and DNA testing, to take a significant period of time to investigate.
Magistrate Ross Mack noted the defence had become “jaundiced” and “losing his hair” regarding the prosecution’s assurances for the delays.
Seeking to bail Mcauliffe, Defence lawyer Nick Douglas said his client had now spent 492 days behind bars and was in danger of serving longer in custody than a third of a five-year sentence - the maximum penalty in these circumstances for the charge.
He said the presumption of bail was in Mcauliffe’s favour and referred to comments made by the magistrate at the previous court date, saying he would likely grant bail if the brief still hadn’t been provided.
Mr Douglas said it was legal aid policy that counsel couldn’t be engaged until the sizable brief was received, which needed three months for the defence to be prepared.
Ms Mythen opposed bail, saying that he hadn’t spent too long in custody, with 608 days being the one third mark for the maximum penalty.
She said the evidence against Mcauliffe was strong and he was a risk of either fleeing or attempting to contact witnesses.
He has previously failed to appear in court three times and told police he and Chante White had planned to flee to Weipa.
She also alleged Mcauliffe had influenced a witness to change their story.
Magistrate Mack said he was granting bail, believing that Mcauliffe had served enough time without seeing the full brief of evidence.
He acknowledged the strength of evidence and conditions that Mcauliffe reports to police weekly and not contact a list of witnesses.
Present in court, Kayla Golding’s family members were visibly upset with the outcome.
The case was adjourned until December 15.
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Originally published as Chante Lee White faces Townsville Magistrates Court over stabbing murder of Kayla Golding
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