It was "hard to imagine" a hearing date for Clayton
Weatherston's appeal would be set before Christmas, his
lawyer said yesterday.
Robert Lithgow QC said nothing much more had happened on the
matter since Weatherston notified the appellate court last
month that he intended to appeal his September conviction for
murdering Dunedin woman Sophie Elliott.
Weatherston argued at his jury trial that he was provoked and
would plead guilty to manslaughter.
He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison
with a minimum non-parole period of 18 years.
The Court of Appeal registrar said the court "was not ready"
to set a date and it "could be some time" before that
happened, meaning the hearing would not happen until well
into next year.
A Legal Services Agency spokeswoman said as per agency
policy, Weatherston was given a limited legal aid grant to
enable his lawyer to prepare a summary of issues detailing
the proposed grounds of appeal.
That would enable the agency to decide whether Weatherston
met the criteria for a full grant of aid, so no decision had
been made on legal aid for the appeal at present.
Asked if he if thought a hearing date would be set before
Christmas Mr Lithgow said: "It's hard to imagine."
debbie.porteous@odt.co.nz
