David Bain's lawyers were tonight considering whether to appeal today's High Court decision to press on with his re-trial for the murder of five family members in 1994.
The High Court at Christchurch said that an application for stay of proceedings and/or discharge before trial had been dismissed - but suppressed all details of the arguments before the court.
Chief High Court Judge, Justice Tony Randerson, and the trial judge, Justice Graham Panckhurst, ruled out the stay after almost a week of legal argument.
Bain's counsel, Michael Reed QC, told NZPA tonight no decision had been made about an appeal.
"We've only just got (the decision). We are looking hard at it and that is all I can say at the moment," he said.
Preliminary selection of the jury panel has already been made and the pool of 80 jurors will return for final selection on Friday morning. The re-trial was originally scheduled to have started today.
Bain was convicted in 1995 for the murder of his parents and three siblings and served nearly 13 years of a life sentence before his convictions were set aside by the Privy Council in London, which ordered a re-trial.
Arthur Allan Thomas, 71, left his Waikato dairy farm today to support Bain in Christchurch. Mr Thomas was wrongly imprisoned for nine years in the 1970s for a double murder he said he did not commit, and received a pardon after a royal commission of inquiry found police had planted a bullet cartridge used to convict him.
"I think David Bain needs some support," said Mr Thomas, who wants the jury to think carefully about the case. "He's only got Joe Karam and his lawyers, whereas the Crown's got all the taxpayers' money, millions of dollars, plenty of time."
Mr Thomas met Bain after last year's pardon: "He's a nice guy, brilliant guy, sense of humour, personality," said Mr Thomas. "He's like me in lots of ways."
The trial has been set down for three months. An order transferring it from Dunedin was made last year.
Bain's lawyers were also in the Supreme Court at Wellington today appealing an earlier High Court decision on the admissibility of evidence.
Today's Supreme Court arguments were also suppressed.
