Steven John Johnson is charged with the murder and assault causing death while intoxicated of Kenny Matthews, 52, in Tamworth in May last year.

Mr Matthews died in Tamworth hospital 24 hours after he was allegedly bashed by Johnson on Goonoo Goonoo Rd on May 15.

Yesterday, the accused appeared in the dock of Tamworth Local Court in a dark, collared shirt, pants and a tie, while a barrister for Johnson argued to have key witnesses called to test evidence in the case.

Barrister Gabrielle O’Shannessy said the identity of the accused and the cause of death were two grounds in question.

“The evidence of the medical witnesses lacks some clarity,” she said.

A solicitor for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) objected to the call for witnesses and said medical reports showed the injury to the spleen “caused a slow, low-volume haemorrhage”.

“It started as a slow bleed, and progressed,” she submitted.

“(It) eventually caused pain to Mr Matthews, which is what caused him to seek treatment.”

The court heard Mr Matthews refused to be seen by ambulance staff after the alleged assaults before he was driven to a Woodward Ave home on the night by police with a different man identified as Stephen James Johnson. 

He presented at hospital about 1pm the following day and died within hours but made a recorded interview with investigators at the hospital prior to his death.

Ms O’Shannessy said the issue centred on what would have happened if the deceased “had attended the hospital sooner”. 

“Would that bleeding have been detected, that is the question,” she said.

But the DPP argued that didn’t change the cause of death, or the accused’s “liability for the death”.

“Mr Matthews wasn’t aware of the injury to his spleen,” she said.

“A decision by Mr Matthews not to go to hospital for treatment cannot ultimately change the cause of death.”

She also submitted there was no identity argument because witness statements from the Woodward Ave home refer to “Mr Matthews being injured” but “being awake, conscious, happy ... until sometime in that afternoon”. 

Ms O’Shannessy argued there were “contradictions in who assaulted who” and she was seeking to have some of the witnesses called after they reported seeing a man in a red and green guernsey “thumping” a man on the ground, telling the court that guernsey was recovered from Stephen James Johnson, not the accused, but was overruled by the court. 

Magistrate Roger Prowse said any witnesses called “isn’t for the purpose of having a pre-go” before any trial, and ruled the medical evidence was the “legitimate area of inquiry”.

Mr Prowse issued a direction for the doctor to be be called to give an expert opinion on the immediate presentation of a person with an injured spleen.

“What treatment could have occurred and the possible outcome of that treatment,” he told the court.

The doctor will be cross-examined on the “limited area” at a committal hearing set down for March.

Family members of Mr Matthews were seated in the back of the court for the proceedings and Johnson’s sister, Shannon Johnson, walked in to the hearing part way, before the DPP asked for her to be removed.

“She is a witness in the trial,” she argued.

“Also the sister of the accused,” Ms Johnson replied, before leaving.

Steven John Johnson remained silent throughout proceedings, only telling his solicitor he would not be making an application for bail.