Bogota: Accused drug courier Cassandra Sainsbury may have the opportunity to negotiate another deal in future, according to the judge who struck down her plea deal.
Judge Sergio Leon on Wednesday afternoon local time rejected the deal struck between the prosecution and the defence that would have seen the 22-year-old serve a maximum of six years prison.
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Judge rejects Cassie Sainsbury's plea deal
Australian drug mule Cassandra Sainsbury is led from court in Bogota, Colombia, facing the possibility of up to 30 years in jail. Vision: Channel Seven
The plea deal was thrown into jeopardy after Ms Sainsbury told the court at a hearing on July 26 that she had only agreed to smuggle 5.8kg of cocaine after her family had been threatened.
The judge determined that the revelations of threats against her family, during her last court hearing two weeks ago, meant the current plea deal was no longer valid.
He then gave the prosecution the opportunity to appeal the decision, which they did not.
After that, a final pronouncement gave the prosecutors leave to begin formal trial proceedings to begin at any point from tomorrow, Bogota time.
However, according to court officials, this does not mean the trial will start any time soon.
If found guilty, Ms Sainsbury could now spend up to 30 years in a Colombian prison.
![Cassandra Sainsbury arrives for a court hearing in Bogota.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170812062618im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/j/k/b/b/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxsypl.png/1502324614934.jpg)
Speaking to reporters after the trial, senior Judge Sergio Leon was visibly fatigued as he outlined the future steps.
"There are two possibilities," he said. "One is that the prosecution and the defence can return to negotiate."
![Cassandra Sainsbury.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170812062618im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/j/k/b/c/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxsypl.png/1502374605853.jpg)
"The other is that the trial will proceed and it will be the work of the prosecution to improve their case."
Although the judge had been scathing of the prosecution's lack of investigation into certain aspects of the case, like evidence of email- or WhatsUp-based threats, he did say that the investigation had been paused during the negotiation of the now-dead plea deal.
![Cassandra Sainsbury was found with 5.8 kilograms of cocaine.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170812062618im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/d/6/p/s/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gxsypl.png/1502324614934.jpg)
The judge, who will not be presiding over the formal trial, as per procedure, also said that this trial had been different from other hearings because usually people start off saying they have been threatened, not introducing this in the middle of a plea deal.
A trial date is still to be set.
In Wednesday's hearing, the judge outlined that an investigation by the prosecution had found little to corroborate the Adelaide woman's story.
However, he said no evidence could be extracted from the phone Ms Sainsbury had on her at the time of her arrest because Colombian authorities lacked the software to carry out the analysis.
Judge Leon said that the prosecutor had also not examined Ms Sainsbury's email correspondence or the source of the money Ms Sainsbury had received from Wester Union.
As she arrived at court in Bogota on Thursday (AEST), her lawyer Orlando Herran told reporters that Sainsbury was maintaining her story that her family was under threat.
"As the defence, we don't have the resources of the prosecution," Mr Herran told Fairfax outside the court.
"At the moment, we only have Cassandra's words about the threat.
"Cassandra doesn't have the personal resources for a private investigator to prove the threat."
Ms Sainsbury was supported in court by mother Lisa Evans and fiance Scott Broadbridge, as well as Australian consular officials.
The prosecution will now lodge an application to start the normal trial proceedings.