A teary Sara Connor told a panel of judges she was innocent at the opening of her murder trial over the death of Bali police officer Wayan Sudarsa.
The bloodied corpse of Mr Sudarsa, a father of two and police officer for 35 years, was found on Kuta beach on August 17.
Ms Connor and her British DJ boyfriend David Taylor were on Wednesday indicted in the Denpasar District Court on charges of unpremeditated murder, group assault or assault causing death.
Ms Connor, who had arrived at the court handcuffed, cowered in the holding cell and attempted to hide her face with a fan before the trial began.
The couple are being tried separately although some of the judges will preside over both cases.
Ms Connor's lawyer, Erwin Siregar told the court he would object to the charges when Ms Connor's trial resumed next Wednesday.
The court heard the cause of Mr Sudarsa's death was a blunt force trauma to the head that caused the police officer's brain to swell and ultimately prevented him from breathing.
Mr Taylor, who is also known as DJ Nutzo, has admitted bashing the police officer with weapons including a smashed beer bottle but not to killing him.
Ms Connor denies any role in the death of the officer, insisting she was trying to separate Mr Taylor and Mr Sudarsa, who were fighting on the beach.
After parts of her 18-page indictment were read in court, a tense Ms Connor, who often appeared confused, shook her head and said "I want to object".
She later told the judges: "I am innocent. Please!"
Mr Siregar had earlier mounted a spirited defence of his client outside court.
He said if the prosecutors wanted to bring a case against Ms Connor it should have been for allegedly destroying evidence, which only carried a maximum nine month jail sentence.
Ms Connor has admitted to cutting up Mr Sudarsa's identity cards from a wallet that was removed from his battered body. The next day the couple threw away the cards.
"Why did she cut the card? (She) Didn't want the card to be found by the wrong person and then use it not because of death but for that. Of course we have to prove it in the court," Mr Siregar said.
Ms Connor, a mother of two who ran a fresh pasta business in Byron Bay, had been able to speak to her children three times in his presence, Mr Siregar said.
He said his client was sad and nervous ahead of the trial.
"Of course this is normal, she is human."
The widow of Mr Sudarsa told Fairfax Media her husband might still be alive if the couple had sought help after he was injured in the fight.
But Mr Siregar said Ms Connor had tried to go to the police station after the melee but the ojek (motorcycle taxi) had refused to take her.
Asked why they didn't then seek help from nearby hotels or call the police, Mr Siregar said the couple did not have any money at the time.
"At least she try already to go to police and at that time Sara doesn't have money and as you know from this location to police station takes a long time. At the time David and Sara had no money," Mr Siregar said.
He said he would object next week to the three charges Ms Connor was facing.
Mr Siregar acknowledged that courts normally threw out 95 per cent of objections but said at least they would be on the court record for any future appeals in the Supreme and High Court.
Judge Made Pasek urged the media to respect that the defendants were innocent until proven guilty.
