Trial date for driver charged with death of pedestrian

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A trial date has been set for a driver charged with the death of pedestrian Kimberly Chaval Phillips in June last year.

Jennifer Caroline Te-rina Koia, 22, appeared at a Crown callover fixture in Gisborne District Court yesterday.

She was charged in October with causing Ms Phillips’ death while driving with a blood-alcohol level of 106mgs per 100 millilitres of blood. (The legal limit is 80mgs per litre of blood).

Koia has pleaded not guilty and has elected trial by jury.

Judge Warren Cathcart scheduled her trial for the week of October 8.

Ms Phillips, 33, was a pedestrian in Cobden Street when she came into collision with a car on the night of Friday, June 16, last year. She was in a critical condition when paramedics arrived and died while receiving treatment at the scene.