KEY POINTS:
A court telephone conference later this month will discuss when David Bain's retrial on charges of murdering five members of his family should take place.
Bain was granted bail in May after serving almost 13 years in jail for the murders. The Privy Council law lords in London had quashed his conviction and ordered a retrial which the solicitor-general agreed to in late June.
When he was granted bail, his case was remanded for callover to July 26.
However, Justice Graham Panckhurst has since decided no purpose would served by having a callover in open court, given that all counsel are some distance from Christchurch and that Bain is residing in Te Kauwhata, Waikato.
Instead, there will be a telephone conference involving himself, the crown and defence lawyers that day.
In a note released by the High Court, Justice Pankhurst has told the parties he wants them to advise on the estimated duration of the trial, when the case is expected to be ready and whether there will be any pre-trial applications.
He said Bain's appearance on July 26 was excused.
Bain was jailed after a jury found him guilty of murdering his mother, Margaret, his father, Robin, sisters Arawa, 19, and Laniet, 18, and brother Stephen, 14, at the family's home in Every St, Dunedin in 1994.
Bain told media last month he had a job with PGG Wrightsons in Te Kauwhata doing stock maintenance and administration work.
- NZPA
