KEY POINTS:
Virtual technology could allow jurors in the David Bain retrial to take a walk through the family's Every St home 13 years after it burned to the ground.
The prosecution will apply to the High Court at Christchurch to use the judicial evidentiary display (Jedi) system made by Taylormade Software.
The system allows judge, jurors, counsel and witnesses simultaneously to view or hear evidence such as photos, transcripts, videos, sound recordings and x-rays on computer screens in front of them.
Taylormade software developer Andrew Schofield said it also offered the possibility of virtual walk-throughs of crime scenes.
Jury computer screens could be isolated if necessary.
The technology has already been used in 10 cases, including the 2001 trial of Dr Colin Bouwer, who slowly poisoned his wife, Annette, in Dunedin.
Crown counsel Robin Bates said the prosecution hoped to use the system, but an application was yet to be made to the trial judge. The trial will begin next February.
Bain's lawyer Michael Reed said the defence did not have a Jedi system and declined to comment until the application was heard.
Bain is accused of murdering his parents and three siblings in their Dunedin home in 1994.
- NZPA
