Setting the date of murder accused Justis Smith's retrial will depend on whether the Privy Council will allow his challenge of a judgment by the Court of Appeal.

During yesterday's monthly arraignment hearing, Chief Justice Austin Ward ordered Smith to return to court for mention on June 1 when Smith's lawyer Elizabeth Christopher will report on the state of the appeal.

The Privy Council in London could allow the challenge before it adjourns on July 28. But Smith's lawyers must submit all the formal paperwork by the end of the month.

In March, the Court of Appeal overturned a decision in December by Puisne Judge Vincent Meerabux that Smith should walk free because of an abuse of process and insufficient evidence.

Smith was not required to say anything yesterday before Mr. Justice Ward. He quietly left the courtroom trailed by a friend and his father at the end of the hearing.

Yesterday, Crown counsel Peter Eccles said he challenges the suggestion by Smith's lawyer John Perry, QC, that any further delay was an abuse of process, the Crown is "ready, willing, and able to pursue a trial in early September''.

Mr. Eccles said a September trial would not be an abuse of process because it was Smith's lawyers who had appealed the Court of Appeal decision.

The Privy Council -- Bermuda's highest court of appeal -- will adjourn on July 28 until early October.

Rebecca Middleton's nearly naked body was found on Ferry Reach, St. George's, in the early hours of July 3, 1996.

She died after she and friend Jasmine Meens -- whose father Rick lives in Bermuda -- accepted rides from three men riding two motorcycles.

Jasmine got home safely, but Ms Middleton was raped, tortured, and stabbed to death in a murder that has haunted the Island and its judiciary.

Later that year, Jamaican Kirk Mundy pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the murder and was jailed for five years.

Smith is free on $125,000 bail.

On bail: Justis Smith Graphic file name: JUSMI