KEY POINTS:
David Bain's retrial on charges of murdering five members of his family will take place in May next year.
Justice Graham Panckhurst has directed the trial to start on Monday, May 5, with a 12-week estimate.
No decision has been made yet on the venue. The original trial took place in Dunedin, the city where the family was killed.
Justice Panckhurst's decision was released today following a teleconference with counsel yesterday.
The court said it was envisaged that any pre-trial applications would be scheduled for hearing towards the end of this year.
There will be a further telephone conference on October 9.
Bail has been extended for Bain until that date, with it expected that evidence relied upon by the crown will have been provided to the defence by then.
Bain was granted bail in May after serving almost 13 years in jail for the murders of his parents and three siblings, following the quashing of his convictions by the Privy Council law lords in London. They ordered a retrial, which solicitor-general David Collins agreed to in late June.
Meanwhile, Mr Collins' office said today he would be making no comment on the reissue of Bain supporter Joe Karam's book while the retrial is before the courts.
The Press newspaper reported earlier the Crown Law Office was considering what action to take over Karam's book on the Bain killings because of its new preface.
In ordering Bain's retrial, Mr Collins had said anyone prejudicing the new trial risked a contempt charge.
Canterbury University senior law lecturer Chris Gallavin said Mr Karam was "flirting with the boundary pretty closely".
Karam has defended the decision to republish the book, saying all the information was already in the public arena.
He said the book's new preface was written before the retrial decision was made, with only the last sentence added after the announcement.
- NZPA
