Crown 'hopeful' Dennis Oland's new murder trial will be held in 2018

The Crown is "hopeful" Dennis Oland's new murder trial in the bludgeoning death of his father, New Brunswick multimillionaire Richard Oland, sixyears ago, will be held next year.

P.J. Veniot, the lead prosecutor, made the statement to reporters aftera brief court appearance in Saint John on Tuesday morning.

"The Crown is ready to proceed whenever the dates are set," he said.

A date for the new second-degree murder trial,ordered by the New Brunswick Court of Appealwhen it overturned Oland's conviction last fall,was scheduled to be set Tuesday in Saint John's Court of Queen's Bench.

But Veniot told the courtboth parties need more time to prepare.

Thereare "matters that need to be ironed out,"Veniot said.

Both the Crown and defence will be "much better prepared for the next court appearance."

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Justice William Grant agreed to the request and set scheduling for Sept. 5.

Oland, 49, who is free on bail while awaiting the new trial, did not attend Tuesday's proceedings.Olandfamily lawyer Bill Teed appeared on behalfof him and the defence team.

They too are hopefulthe trial will be held in 2018, Teed told CBC News.

Asked whether there's any reason to believe it might not be, he replied: "I don't think so, but many people are involved who need to be accommodated when setting trial dates."

Court clerk Amanda Evans told CBCthe court "would be prepared to commence the trial in the early months of the new year, if counsel were prepared.

"However, so much depends upon what pretrial motions take place, if any, and the length of time required," she said.

"It's all difficult to predict at this point, however, the court will do its best to accommodate prompt hearing of motions and the trial."

Scheduled to last 65 days

The length of the retrial may be determined during the next court appearance, "or afterwhenever the defence and Crown have consulted with one another,"Veniot told reporters.

"Length of trial, witnesses everything needs to be kind of dealt with before we start setting dates," he said.

The retrial is currently scheduled to lastup to 65 days, the same length of time set aside for Oland'sfirst jury trial in 2015 one of the longest criminal trials in New Brunswick history.

Some judges, lawyers and legal experts previously suggested the retrial could be shorter.The parties might be able to reach agreed statements of fact, for example, and avoid calling some witnesses.

Veniot could not say whether the Crown expects to call the same witnesses.The list of witnesses will likely only become public once the trial begins, he said.

The Crown called 44 witnesses during the first trial, including numerous police officers and a forensic accountant. The defence called only three witnesses a bloodstain analyst, a forensic computer expert and Oland.

Justice TerrenceMorrisonof Frederictonhas been selected to hear the retrial.

The 65-day stretch does not include any pretrial conferences or pretrial hearings that may be required, or time necessary for jury selection.

Olandwill have the same defence team as he did for his first trialAlan Gold of Toronto, Gary Miller of Fredericton and James McConnell of Saint John.

Two of the three Crown prosecutors who handled the first trialVeniot, who is retired,andDerek Weaverwill handle the retrial, along with Jill Knee.

The head of the Saint John Police Force's major crime unit, Sgt. Jay Henderson, attended Tuesday's hearing.

Scheduling previously delayed by 6 months

The scheduling of the new trial was already postponed by about six months earlier this year while the Office of the Attorney General and the defence both applied to have the country's highest court review the New Brunswick Court of Appeal's decision to overturnOland'sconviction.

Prosecutors hoped to have the jury's guilty verdict reinstated, and the defence sought an acquittal instead of a retrial.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed both requestslast month. No reasons were given.

A jury found Olandguilty on Dec. 19, 2015, following a three-month trial. He spent about 10 months in prison before the New Brunswick Court of Appeal quashed hisconviction on Oct. 24, 2016, and ordered a new trial, citing a problem with the trial judge's instructions to the jury.Oland was granted bail the following day, pending his new trial.

Thebody of Richard Oland, 69, was discovered lying face-down in a pool of blood in hisoffice on July 7, 2011. He had suffered 45 blows to his head,neck and hands. No weapon was ever found.

His son was the last known person to see him alive, during his visit tothe elderOland'soffice the night before.

During the first trial, the Crown suggested DennisOland'spossible motives were his financial struggles and/or alleged anger over his father's extramarital affair.

A key piece of evidence in the Crown's case against him was a blood-stained brown sports jacket, seized from his bedroom closet a week after his father's body was discovered.

It had four small bloodstainson it on the right sleeve, upper left chestandthe back, the trial heard. The DNA extracted from three of those stains matched his father's profile. The chances of it not being the victim's DNA were one in 20 quintillion, a DNA expert testified.

Dennis Olandhas denied any involvement in his father's death and hisextended family has stood by him from the beginning, maintaining he is innocent.