He said the late disclosure of DNA evidence, which did not implicate Mr King in any way, "has not yet been explained," and the consequence of late disclosure "appear to have been serious."
He said, and that "on the facts as pleaded, there appears to be a substantial injustice factor (weighed in Mr King's favour)."
Last night Russell Fairbrother QC said the Crown "never really" disclosed the DNA evidence ahead of the trial date, saying only that it didn't exclude Mr King, when it should have said it didn't implicate him.
"This is a breakthrough decision," said Mr Fairbrother, hoping the Crown may settle out of court.
But he reiterated Mr King doesn't want much - only an apology and consideration for a $12,000 vehicle he lost as a result of the arrest, for which he is still making payments.
Now 55, Mr King said at his home in Marewa last night: "They got it wrong. Why can't they just own up?"
Eastern Police manager of criminal investigations Detective Inspector Rob Jones was unable to comment on latest developments, but said the Chattrice Maihi-Carroll case, which recently featured in a Sensing Murder TV programme, remains an "unsolved homicide" and police urge anyone who has information to come forward.
Mr King and Ms Maihi-Carroll, who was 46 when she died, lived in neighbouring flats at the corner of Venables and Cottrell Crescents, Onekawa South.
By his own concessions Mr King had not led a blameless life, and had been to prison in the past, not too long beforehand for a robbery of the Maraenui Golden Chance TAB.
He bore the tattoos, but by January 2008 had an established job as a food processing worker and was paying off a vehicle he called his "pride and joy," because a finance company had "given him a chance" as he tried to make headway for the sake of his grown children and his grandchildren.
After discovery of the body, police searched his home and vehicle, finding no physical evidence either in the woman's flat or his own possessions to connect him to the crime.
But he was charged at the end of March with murder, mainly on the basis of workmate claims that he had been talking about the killing before it was discovered.
Denying any involvement, and represented by Auckland barrister Peter Williams QC and Mr Fairbrother, his first trial in the High Court in Napier in June 2009 was abandoned after two days following an application by the late Sir Peter Williams.
The second trial in the High Court in Napier on February 8, 2010, was even quicker, when Justice Denis Clifford granted a defence application for a discharge after the Crown decided to offer no evidence, after Mr Collins said it was "unsafe" for the Crown to offer its evidence as a reliable basis for a jury to reach a verdict.
Mr King said at the time: "I never should have been charged, full stop. I am not the person responsible."
Sir Peter Williams, who died two years ago at the age of 80, said in 2010 a private investigator had established evidence that Mr King had spoken about the incident only after he saw the police at the address during a return home for lunch, and there was other evidence that discredited suggestions he had been aware any earlier.
He said police had focused on Mr King because of his appearance, including being Maori, and had not considered other possibilities, when there was another clear suspect.
Sir Peter told Hawke's Bay Today in 2013 he had been sure of Mr King's innocence the moment they'd met, and that he was due compensation. "I am angry," Mr Williams said at the time.