A WEEK after he had his conviction for dumping the body of murdered mother Carly McBride overturned, James Anthony Cunneen has been released on bail pending a new trial sometime in 2025.
Mr Cunneen, now 32, was in 2022 found guilty of being an accessory after the fact to murder over the brutal death of Ms McBride at Muswellbrook in 2014, a jury finding he had helped dump Ms McBride's body and lied to police to protect her killer, Sayle Kenneth Newson.
Cunneen was later jailed for a maximum of seven-and-a-half years, with a non-parole period of four years and was not eligible for parole until 2026.
But last week the Court of Criminal Appeal upheld an appeal against Cunneen's conviction, quashing the guilty verdict and ordering he face a new trial.
The reasons for the CCA's decision have not yet been made public.
Cunneen remained behind bars after the ruling, but his lawyers on Wednesday made an application for him to be released on conditional bail in Sydney's Downing Centre District Court.
The application was not opposed by prosecutors and Cunneen's matter was adjourned until April 15 when he will be arraigned and get a date for a re-trial, which likely will not be held until 2025.
Cunneen was the second man charged over the murder of Ms McBride to have his appeal determined this month after the Court of Criminal Appeal ruled 2-1 in favour of dismissing both the conviction and severity appeal for Ms McBride's jealous boyfriend Sayle Newson.
Newson's lawyers have said they are eyeing a potential appeal to the High Court of Australia after the dissenting judge ruled he would have quashed the murder conviction and ordered Newson face a new trial.
Newson, now 46, was in 2021 found guilty of murdering Ms McBride, a jury left with no doubt he was the person who intercepted the 31-year-old after she left a house at Muswellbrook on September 30, 2014, and inflicted a number of blows to her head and back before dumping her body near the side of a stretch of road outside Scone.
Ms McBride's skeletal remains were not found until August, 2016.
Newson was later sentenced to a maximum of 27 years in jail, with a non-parole period of 19 years and nine months and is not eligible for parole until 2038.
Newson's lawyers had argued he should be acquitted or a new trial ordered due to what they said were errors made by the trial judge.
But after reviewing the evidence, the Court of Criminal Appeal was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Newson was guilty and was the person responsible for killing Ms McBride.
The judgment in Newson's case was welcomed by Ms McBride's mother.
Lorraine Williams told the Newcastle Herald she was "relieved and happy" that her daughter's killer would remain where he was.
