Justis Raham Smith, the youth charged with the premeditated murder of his daughter Rebecca, has not commenced.

He made the statement almost a year after his daughter's body was found on a deserted stretch of Ferry Reach Road on July 3.

A date for Smith's trial is expected to be fixed at his next Supreme Court arraignment on July 1, Attorney General Elliott Mottley said last week.

"I was in Bermuda in late October and I was hopeful of a trial date being set then,'' Mr. Middleton said.

"We thought we were looking at spring for a trial. There's been one remand after another. When we do get to the point where there is a trial it will be tough,'' he said.

"We've been asked to be patient. We would like to see the matter go to trial.

But we want to make sure it is done properly.'' He said it is likely that he will be the only Middleton family member to attend the trial.

Mr. Middleton also said that many people in Rebecca's home town in Ontario, as well as people in Bermuda, want to see the matter move forward.

But the attorney representing Justis Raham Smith doubts the trial will be starting anytime soon.

"I expect they're (the Crown) just announcing the date to save face,'' Mr.

Archie Warner yesterday The Royal Gazette . Meanwhile little has changed since defence attorneys last charged the Crown with dragging its feet -- back in August of 1996.

Mr. Warner said he has not been presented with any physical evidence relating to the murder.

"Nothing, no forensic evidence; all the important evidence. I can only assume they haven't got it because I haven't seen it.'' Mr. Warner voiced similar concerns last August and accused the prosecution of being "devious''.

"The prosecution is keeping the defence and the Court in the dark. This is wrong. I need to know some basis of why this boy had been remanded in custody for so long. We need evidence for the basis of the charge,'' Mr. Warner told the Court then.

If convicted, Smith, 17, of Deep Dale Road in Pembroke, could face the death penalty.

He was charged along with Kirk Orlando Mundy, who later pleaded guilty to being an accomplice after the fact. Mundy received a five-year jail sentence last fall.

Rebecca Middleton COURTS CTS