Candice in court over sis death
Tax chief hits back at Hogan
DRESSED in all black, Candice Lee Chmieluk remained silent and surrounded by family and friends as she faced charges of causing her sister’s death in a fiery Palm Beach crash.
The horrific smash in May last year occurred just after the pair left the Currumbin Surf Lifesaving Club on a Sunday afternoon.
Chmieluk, 30, was pulled from the wreck but her sister, Sammy-Jo, 24, was not so lucky.
The mother-of-two appeared in Southport Magistrates Court yesterday on charges of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death while adversely affected.
Police are still compiling a brief of evidence and Chmieluk did not enter a plea to the charge.
It is understood Chmieluk’s alleged blood alcohol reading at the time of the incident will be revealed in the brief.
The matter will court on July 26.
In a rare public post on Facebook in February, the Gold Coast mum gave a heartfelt tribute to her sister when posting a link to Tash Sultana’s cover of MGMT’s Electric Feel.
“You’re on my mind Sammy-Jo,” she wrote followed by a purple heart emoticon. The babes and I have been bumping in the lounge all morning, crying and laughing, only thing missing are your mad dance moves Aunty.
“Jamming out just ain’t the same.”
In December Chmieluk also posted a happy birthday message AUSTRALIA’S tax chief has defended himself amid an ongoing stoush with Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan, who called him a “boofhead” and a “mongrel”.
Australian Taxation Office commissioner Chris Jordan infuriated the movie star earlier this year after suggesting return to to her sister accompanied by a picture of fireworks.
Last month Chmieluk tagged Sammy-Jo in a video linking to M-Phazes’ cover of Jack Garratt’s Weather.
The post, which included just Sammy-Jo’s name and a heart, was made just days after she was charged by police over the crash.
Yesterday Chmieluk did not speak as she, family and friends entered the courtroom.
As she left, two men and her sister, Kristy, flanked, Chmieluk.
All declined to speak.
Chmieluk wore dark glasses and kept her head up and face expressionless as she left the courthouse.
Her family and friends at times guided Chmieluk to help her avoid obstacles and cross the road.
The horror smash shocked the Gold Coast.
The pair were travelling north on the Gold Coast Highway at 5.52pm on May 29 last year when they failed to negotiate a bend.
The car mounted the median strip and became airborne before hitting a traffic light pole at the intersection with Thrower Drive.
The impact caused the car to split in two before it was engulfed in flames. Hogan had paid “tens of millions” of dollars in a settlement to end a long-running legal battle. Hogan hit back, threatening to sue the Australian Taxation Office and saying: “I didn’t pay tens of millions to get out of anything. Not only have they breached confidentiality, but they’ve lied.”
IT IS UNDERSTOOD CHMIELUK’S ALLEGED BLOOD ALCOHOL READING AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT WILL BE REVEALED IN THE BRIEF OF EVIDENCE
Mr Jordan said he would “love to clear that up” but would rather do it under parliamentary privilege than during his appearance at the National Press Club. “What I can say to you is there is very often two sides to a story, and historically people come out strongly with one side,” he said.