Adrian Ernest Bayley (41) is to contest charges of raping and murdering Irishwoman Jill Meagher in Melbourne, Australia last September.
Mr Bayley was scheduled for a committal mention at the Melbourne Magistrates Court this morning and appeared briefly by video link from the Melbourne Assessment Prison.
During the hearing, Mr Bayley spoke only to indicate that he could hear the court.
Deputy chief magistrate Felicity Broughton confirmed that Mr Bayley’s team had been granted the right to cross examine witnesses at a one-and-a-half day committal hearing scheduled for March 12th and 13th.
She also accepted an unopposed application to extend a suppression order banning damaging information about Mr Bayley from being published on the internet.
The suppression order was introduced following Mr Bayley’s arrest last year when defence lawyer Heather Spowart complained that material published on websites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube could prejudice the trial.
Ms Broughton said that the suppression order would be in place until the March hearing.
A handful of Ms Meagher’s friends were present at the court to show their support, but family members stayed away.
Ms Meagher’s body was found in a shallow grave about 45 kilometres south of Melbourne, five days after she disappeared from the suburb of Brunswick on September 22nd where she had been socialising with friends.