Katie Holmes, 29, of Rathmines, on Monday pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death and faced the first day of an estimated week-long trial in Newcastle District Court.

Ms Holmes was allegedly speeding and had traces of methamphetamine in her system when she hit and killed 47-year-old Anne Bourke as she crossed Main Road at Heddon Greta about 10.50pm on February 15, 2020.

During his opening address, Crown prosecutor Andrew Lynch told the jury Ms Bourke and her partner Dean Latter where among a group that had taken a mini bus from Heddon Greta to Pokolbin for a concert on the afternoon of the crash.

They returned to the Heddon Greta Hotel about 10.30pm and it was about 20 minutes later when Ms Bourke decided to go home.

She was crossing Main Road near the intersection of Young Street when she was struck by a Mazda sedan driven by Ms Holmes. She died at the scene.

Mr Lynch said a man a few steps ahead of Mr Bourke as they crossed the road would give evidence that he did not hear the car brake before the impact.

Mr Lynch said CCTV footage from outside the hotel was analysed by crash investigators and other experts in order to calculate the average speed of Ms Holmes' Mazda as it travelled past the hotel.

Mr Lynch said one expert opined the car was travelling at an average of between 80km/h and 90km/h and another expert said it was going about 94km/h.

A blood sample taken from Ms Holmes showed she had traces of methamphetamine and amphetamine in her system but a pharmacologist was unable to say Ms Holmes was under the influence to the extent that her driving would have been impaired, Mr Lynch said.

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