An Evatt man allegedly struck the corpse of a close friend after his mate "smashed" his car and died in a crash on a busy Canberra road.
Special magistrate Margaret Hunter on Tuesday revoked a non-publication order that had prevented media reporting on the case of Samuel Angus Berron since the man first faced court on June 21.
Berron, 23, was a passenger in a blue Subaru WRX that crashed into a tree, killing its driver, in Melba on May 20.
ACT Policing alleges that after the crash, Berron "struck the body of the driver of the vehicle several times and acted in an offensive manner towards witnesses".
"At one point, he allegedly threatened to kill a witness when they tried to calm him down," police previously said in a statement.
When Berron first fronted the ACT Magistrates Court after receiving a summons, he was formally charged with improperly interfering with a dead human body, behaving in an offensive manner in a public place, and recklessly threatening to kill a person.
A Legal Aid lawyer representing the Evatt man, who spat at a reporter as he left court that day, applied for a non-publication order over the defendant's name.
The lawyer said Berron had, since police published a media release about the matter that morning, received threats from people known to him.
Ms Hunter replied that it therefore seemed too late for a non-publication order, saying "the fox has left the henhouse".
But the Legal Aid lawyer responded that Berron feared the public at large would "take up making threats" if his name was published, and it was not too late to prevent that.
"His mental health is extremely fragile and he's already dealing with the death of a close friend, who is the subject of a charge," she told the court.
Ms Hunter ultimately made an interim non-publication order, covering not only Berron's identity but also the circumstances of the matter and the existence of the court case.
"[Berron] allowed [the dead man] to drive, and he smashed his car," the magistrate said of the incident, which occurred on Kingsford Smith Drive.
Magistrate James Lawton extended the interim order when the case returned to court on July 20, noting Berron had obtained a private lawyer and saying he should be allowed the opportunity to instruct them.
Berron was not present in court when his new lawyer, Stephanie Beckedahl, entered not guilty pleas to all three charges on his behalf on Tuesday.
Ms Beckedahl did not seek a further extension of the non-publication order, and prosecutor David Swan asked for it to be revoked.
Ms Hunter accordingly dismissed the order, saying it was "no longer in force" as she adjourned Berron's case until October 18.
