Defence tries to separate DV allegations in Jana Armstrong case
A magistrate has scolded the lawyer representing the man charged with the murder of Toowoomba woman Jana Armstrong saying "this is not my first rodeo" after he tried to separate an unrelated assault charge from the case.
The frustrated comment came amid terse legal wrangling during a mention of the domestic violence murder charge against 48-year-old former taxi driver Dharminder Singh.
Mr Singh is charged with one count of murder, a domestic violence offence and a count of arson in relation to Ms Armstrong's car after police found her body in bushland outside Toowoomba on July 12 this year.
Dharminder Singh is in custody at Woodford Correctional Centre. (Supplied)
He also faces a separate charge of contravening an unrelated domestic violence order and an unrelated assault charge.
Mr Singh's lawyer, Ramli Salehkon, today told Magistrate Kyna Morice that the contravention of domestic violence order and assault charges should be heard separately to the murder charge to avoid prejudicing his client.
"Witnesses in these matters are also witnesses in the murder case,"
Mr Salehkon said.
"So I don't want prejudicial materials to be reported in the press, which is prejudicial to the defence of my client, who is contesting all matters."
Ms Morice responded that the matters were initially joined at the lawyer's request and she failed to see why the murder charge needed to be finalised before the other matters.
"I am not simply going to adjourn off charges into the ether on very vague submissions about similar witnesses," she said.
Mr Salehkon also submitted his client was held at Woodford Correctional Centre, a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Toowoomba, and that it was difficult to take instructions.
"I mention human rights," Mr Salehkon said.
Faith Isaacs and Jana Armstrong (right) were extremely close. (Supplied: Faith Isaacs)
Ms Morice responded by asking why he was raising human rights.
"Mr Salehkon, this is not my first rodeo. I had a life before I was on the bench. I know how this works,"
Ms Morice said.
Ramli Salehkon says Dharminder Singh will contest the charges. (ABC Southern Qld: Grace Nakamura)
"I don't appreciate the grandstanding purely because it is a high-profile matter … I won't have this matter mentioned and irrelevant matters raised constantly."
Ms Armstrong was last seen alive at her home in Newtown on the afternoon of July 7, after having brunch with her sister, Faith Isaacs, earlier that day.
At 6am on July 8, Ms Armstrong's car was found abandoned in the middle of the street 500 metres from her home, but she was nowhere to be found.
Her body was discovered by two pig hunters in steep bushland off Esk Hampton Road at Redbank Creek, about 60 kilometres from her home, at 10:39pm on July 12.
Ms Armstrong's baby boy was four-months-old at the time she died.
Faith Isaacs and her husband, Michael Isaacs, were at Toowoomba Magistrates Court for today's mention of the murder charge. (ABC Southern Qld: Cindy Wockner)
Outside court, Ms Isaacs told how much she and her husband loved her sister's little boy and how much her sister's loss was affecting the family.
"As we approach closer to Christmas, reality is setting in that my sister's not here with us anymore and she should be," a tearful Ms Isaacs said.
She said it was important the family continued to attend each court hearing.
The matter was adjourned to January 29 for further mention and to allow for the remainder of the brief of evidence to be served.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.