A Queensland coroner could recommend new charges against Gable Tostee if his investigation into the death of New Zealand tourist Warriena Wright triggers an inquest, according to police familiar with the case.
The state coroner, Terry Ryan, has reopened his investigation into Wright’s death, two months after Tostee was found not guilty of her murder or manslaughter by a supreme court jury.
Ryan is expected to take several months examining the circumstances of Wright’s fatal fall from the balcony of Tostee’s Gold Coast unit in 2014 after the pair met via Tinder for a date.
A jury rejected the prosecutors’ case that Tostee was responsible for Wright’s death, leaving her terrified by locking her on his balcony after subduing her in a struggle. Prosecutors claimed she fell while trying to escape, in fear of her life.
However, the jury accepted Tostee’s version of events, that a 139-minute phone recording of their date showed he was responding after Wright, having grown increasingly erratic under the influence of alcohol, attacked and threatened him.
While Tostee was acquitted of the homicide charges, some police have flagged that an inquest could see him face the prospect of other less serious charges over the night, such as deprivation of liberty.
However, Tostee’s lawyer Nick Dore said there was no certainty that the coronial investigation would lead to an inquest.
“I do not want to pre-empt whether there will be an inquest. They are certainly very rare in Queensland,” Dore told Channel Seven network on Monday.
Dore said of the matter: “We have been to trial and it has already been decided by a jury.”
A senior police investigator told Guardian Australia that Ryan would likely consider holding an inquest at which police would be called to give evidence.
If Ryan did hold an inquest, “he’ll look at any possibility of criminal charges, any less serious charges”, the investigator said.
The high-profile case has divided public opinion. It provoked criticism of police from some quarters for laying the murder charge, and also of Tostee for accepting a reported $100,000 for an interview with 60 Minutes after the trial in October.
