Judge set to issue new ruling on Bain trial video

The High Court Judge who yesterday banned news websites, including nzherald.co.nz, from publishing video of the retrial of David Bain is expected to release an amended judgement this afternoon.

A conference call between media lawyers and a High Court Judge took place this morning.

In a decision released yesterday afternoon, Judge Graeme Panckhurst said nzherald.co.nz, The Press, TV3, Getty images and Stuff.co.nz have had their applications for video coverage of the trial declined.

However, he said broadcasts which have already been aired on television can be run on websites. The same applied to newspapers, though it is unclear how video could appear in print editions.

APN, the owners of nzherald.co.nz, were consulting with their lawyers this morning and considering seeking a clarification of the judge's ruling.

Fairfax Group online editor Sinead Boucher, who is responsible for the Stuff website, told NZPA Stuff would be pushing for video coverage but it was not asking for "live-stream" coverage.

The conference call is understood to have resulted in a new ruling, which is due this afternoon.

Justice Panckhurst said in his original ruling yesterday: "The 2003 Guidelines provide for in-court media coverage in relation to television, radio and still photographs. Provision is not made for internet coverage per-se.

"I consider it inappropriate to extend coverage to the internet, when the effects and implications of this development have not been considered and, if appropriate, approved on defined terms contained in the guidelines."

He added: "For the avoidance of doubt I record that internet material which merely duplicates mainstream newspaper/television coverage (already published or broadcast) is not affected by this ruling."

The courtroom is open today for the media to set up and the retrial gets underway tomorrow.

David Bain faces a retrial for the murder of five members of his family in Dunedin in 1994.

He served nearly 13 years of a life sentence before his convictions were set aside by the Privy Council in London in 2007.

- NZ HERALD STAFF