Interstate judge to fly in to preside over Peter Bravos rape trial

THE rape trial of former NT top cop Peter Bravos will be heard in Darwin Supreme Court by a judge flown in from interstate and is now set to run from July 27, a court has heard

NT Police Assistant Commissioner Peter Bravos will now stand trial in July

THE rape trial of former NT top cop Peter Bravos will be heard in Darwin Supreme Court by a judge flown in from interstate and is now set to run from July 27, a court has heard.

During a pre-trial hearing in Darwin Supreme Court on Wednesday, Justice Judith Kelly told the court that the original trial – which was to start in April – had been vacated with Bravos to now face trial on the updated charges on July 27.

It comes after prosecutors in the case last month dropped two of the four rape charges levelled at the former NT assistant police commissioner, meaning he will now face trial on a fresh indictment relating to two charges alleging the rape of a single victim.

Bravos, 53, was originally committed to stand trial over allegations he sexually assaulted two women dating back to 2004 and 2006.

The trial is estimated to run for four weeks.

Justice Kelly said an interstate judge had been chosen to come to Darwin to preside over the trial.

The identity of the chosen judge is yet to be announced.

Two of Darwin’s Supreme Court Justices recused themselves from hearing the trial in recent pre-trial hearings as they both had a personal relationship with a key witness in the trial – a lawyer who has worked extensively in the Northern Territory.

Bravos’s lawyer John Lawrence SC last month asked Justice Kelly, who was set to hear the trial, to stand down as she had previously worked with the same witness.

Although she refused to do so, she ruled that efforts would be made to find an interstate judge if possible “as a matter of convenience as distinct from apprehended bias”.

She said this would avoid raising of “irrelevant issues” during the hearing.

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“As well as to ensure the defendant himself believes he has the benefit of an impartial trial,” Justice Kelly said.

Bravos will next appear in court on March 25, with prerecording of evidence with particularly sensitive witnesses set to begin in May.