The trial of Bruce Lehrmann, the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins, will be postponed for at least two weeks to begin in late June instead of Monday, as originally planned.
Lehrmann has been charged with non-consensual sex, a complaint of which he has pleaded not guilty.
Former Liberal staff member Bruce Lehrmann will be tried in June.
A firm start date will be set for next Wednesday at a new instructional hearing in the ACT Supreme Court.
Canberra lawyer Kamy Saeedi appeared in court on behalf of Lehrmann on Thursday afternoon and told Chief Justice Lucy McCallum that she had just taken over the case.
He also found a lawyer to appear at the trial, although he said he had not yet been able to “even look closely at the writ with the lawyer”. A legal aid lawyer told the court on Tuesday that they had failed to secure a lawyer for Lehrmann by the scheduled start date of June 6.
McCallum agreed to postpone the trial date until June 20, with the agreement of prosecutor Shane Drumgold.
“I can well understand that a lawyer who is getting into the matter now … would need more than the time between now and Monday,” McCallum said.
He said the trial is set to begin on June 27 because of his previous commitments, but noted that he did not leave “no fat” for unforeseen delays, such as sick jurors or absent witnesses who could drag the proceedings beyond the planned four weeks.