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Confirmation today that Solicitor-General David Collins is considering seeking a retrial for Christchurch man George Gwaze, acquitted last week of raping and murdering his niece, has prompted Mr Gwaze's solicitor to urge a speedy decision.
Lawyer James Rapley, who successfully defended Mr Gwaze, 54, with colleague Jonathan Eaton, told NZPA today an early decision from Mr Collins would be "best for everyone involved".
During the trial the Crown contended that Mr Gwaze suffocated 10-year-old Charlene Makaza, the niece he adopted after her parents died in Zimbabwe, while sexually abusing her.
But the defence argued she died of natural causes after being overcome with sudden complications from her HIV infection.
A High Court jury of seven men and five women took just under five hours to find Mr Gwaze not guilty after a trial that stretched into a fourth week.
The case has been referred to the Crown Law Office for review.
Mr Collins told Radio New Zealand today the circumstances of the case were still under investigation.
He confirmed he may take the highly unusual step of making an appeal to the Court of Appeal.
Mr Collins refused to go into details but said he could "foreshadow the possibility of a retrial".
Mr Rapley told NZPA today he believed Mr Collins was considering challenging a point of law, reserved by the Crown at trial, relating to the admission of "hearsay evidence" from South African paediatric surgeon Heinz Rode.
In a late development in the trial, defence lawyers became aware of Mr Rode's views that there were similarities between Charlene's symptoms and those of children who had died of Aids in South Africa.
Justice Lester Chisholm declined to abort the trial or delay it to allow Mr Rode to give evidence in person, deciding instead to allow the hearsay evidence to be admitted through a third party in an exception to the Evidence Act.
"The Crown asked the judge to reserve a number of points, one of which was that - was the judge correct in allowing that hearsay evidence to be admitted at trial?" Mr Rapley said.
He said he believed it was unusual "because that is the sort of decision made by judges all the time".
"The fact that hearsay evidence is allowed to be given in a trial where a witness is not available does happen," Mr Rapley said.
While he had yet to speak to Mr Gwaze about the latest developments, Mr Rapley said he was a "careful, calm reflective man" who would be waiting "on tenterhooks" to see what happened.
"To go through another trial, if there was one, would be very stressful indeed," Mr Rapley said.
However, he urged Mr Collins not to delay matters while giving the issue "very thorough and full consideration".
"Hopefully it's not left hanging for too long. A quick decision would be the best for everyone."
Earlier this week chief coroner Justice Neil Maclean said he hoped to launch an investigation into Charlene's death and would be speaking to the Crown prosecutor and Christchurch inquest about holding an inquest.
"We have here a mystery about what the cause of death was," he told The Press.
"Was it a sexual assault or Aids? There's a lot of comment at the moment the adversarial system is showing its deficiencies and it hasn't really got to the bottom of what actually happened."
- NZPA
