presented to the jury in the Rebecca Middleton murder trial.

On day eight of the trial, Solicitor General William Pearce QC and defence counsel John Perry QC crossed swords over what the jury was being told in open court.

Mr. Pearce accused Mr. Perry of "grandstanding since the first day of the trial'' and bringing in material that had nothing to do with the trial of Justis Smith.

In reply, in what has been at times a bad tempered case, the defence counsel said it was his duty to explore every avenue when his client faced a murder charge which carried the death penalty.

The spat came as Mr. Perry cross examined Det. Con. Terry Maxwell about his role in the investigation and his knowledge of what had happened to Kirk Mundy during an earlier Supreme Court hearing.

The Crown had failed on appeal to lay a charge of murder against Mundy, after he had already pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact.

Mr. Perry asked Det. Con. Maxwell if, during that hearing, he heard the Solicitor General say "right thinking people may think Kirk Mundy has literally got away with murder''.

The detective said he didn't hear it but that it might have been said.

At that point Mr. Pearce objected: "This has nothing to do with this case, he has been grandstanding from the first day.

"The Attorney General tried to correct the situation by laying a joint charge of murder, which it was decided couldn't go ahead.

"He is now trying to convince the jury that because Mundy has got off with a five year sentence, therefore Justis Smith should get off. That has nothing to do with whether Smith is guilty of this offence.'' The Solicitor General complained that it would be a serious mistake if the jury were influenced by Mr. Perry's speeches on that subject and his comments on the matter should be "totally disregarded''.

"There should be instruction so he shouldn't be allowed to ask anything to do with Kirk Mundy -- it has nothing to do with this offence against Justis Smith.'' John Perry countered, saying the state of mind of the Police officers in the case was highly relevant.

"This man (Justis Smith) faces a charge of premeditated murder which carries the death penalty. I have a duty to explore every avenue when the Crown says that two people are involved,'' he said.

"The question arises if this young man is the principle or secondary party.

"It is therefore of importance that the whole aspect of this case is investigated to show whether in fact Justis Smith is principle or secondary party or whether in truth the principle is another person.'' COURTS CTS