A coroner has found there is no evidence to suggest a woman deliberately hit and killed her partner, Jari Wise, with her car in 2020.
Coroner Simon Cooper described then-attorney general Elise Archer's decision to order an inquest into the death as "an extraordinary decision to make".The death of Jari Wise on a Huonville road in 2020 sparked an intervention by Tasmania's Attorney-General who insisted an inquest be held.
In his findings, Mr Cooper was critical of Ms Archer's decision to order the inquest — which came three hours after Justice Brett's decision."The attorney-general had given no hint of her intention to exercise such a power in her argument in the hearing before Justice Brett," Mr Cooper wrote.Attorney-general's decision 'publicly undermined' Supreme Court
She was jailed for 14 months — and served eight months — after pleading guilty to three driving offences.Ms Oates was driving more than double the speed limit, was three times the blood-alcohol limit and was not wearing glasses, which was a condition of her driver's licence.She originally drove past where Mr Wise was on the road, then turned around, before he was struck and killed.
"I'm mixed, because he added at the end that the inquest made no difference at all into his findings.Ms Tkalac said the inquest had, at times, turned into "a circus".