KEY POINTS:
A stay application to stop the trial of David Cullen Bain on charges of murdering five members of his family in Dunedin in 1994 will go ahead in closed court tomorrow.
All of the proceedings over the bid for a stay, and with other pre-trial matters which began being heard today, were suppressed by Justice Graham Panckhurst.
The High Court at Christchurch has set aside a week for the remaining pre-trial arguments, with Bain's 12-week trial due to start in a fortnight on March 2.
Bain was not present for the hearing today, but his supporter former All Black Joe Karam was present in the public gallery.
A large group of media were in court, but Justice Panckhurst reminded them as soon as the proceedings began that the hearing was subject to the same blanket suppression order that was applied to other Bain pre-trial arguments heard over the last year.
Pre-trial matters will be discussed today, and the stay application will begin being heard tomorrow. The arguments are being heard with "Closed Court" signs on the doors.
Bain is charged with the murders of his father, mother, two sisters and brother.
He was found guilty at his first trial in 1995 and served 13 years before the Privy Council decided a new trial should be held.
The Privy Council also heard a stay application last year, on grounds including witnesses having died since the first trial, the loss or destruction of exhibits, and new evidence that had arisen. The council decided the stay - which would stop the new trial proceeding - could be considered in New Zealand.
- NZPA
