The decision on whether David Bain will face a retrial will be made by the end of next month, Bain's lawyer, Michael Reed, QC, says he has been told.
Mr Reed said he had been in touch with Solicitor-General David Collins seeking information about the nature of the
Crown case and the number of witnesses.
Once Bain's team had received these details, it would make a submission to Dr Collins. His information was that Dr Collins would make the decision by the end of next month.
Crown Law spokeswoman Jan Fulstow said last night that Dr Collins was going to an overseas conference at the end of next month.
She could not comment on whether the decision on a retrial would be made by then.
Mr Reed had been sent a letter by the Crown Law Office asking for any submissions. She would not comment on any other aspect of the decision.
Bain was freed on bail last Tuesday, after the Privy Council in London quashed his convictions for the 1994 murders of his mother, father, two sisters and brother.
Mr Reed said he did not know how likely a retrial was because he did not know how many witnesses the Crown had to call on.
If a retrial was ordered, he said his team had a particularly strong defence.
He said any trial would mean a major scrutiny of the police and their work on the case. It would effectively be two trials in one.
Mr Reed questioned the necessity for another trial, which he said would tie up the courts and "millions of dollars of legal aid money".
Asked if he would be seeking compensation for Bain for his time in prison, Mr Reed said it was far too early to be thinking of compensation.
The decision on whether a retrial would be held needed to come first, he said.
Dunedin detectives said on Friday they hoped to advise Crown Law within two to three weeks on the logistics of a retrial.
