The trial for the man accused of killing battle rapper Pat Stay appears to be back on track. All they need to do is free up the judge.

Adam Joseph Drake, 34, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Stay. He was stabbed on a street in downtown Halifax in September 2022. Stay, 36, died later in hospital. Drake was arrested a few days later.

Drake's five-week jury trial was supposed to be happening now. That schedule got derailed when the Nova Scotia government appointed one of Drake's two defence lawyers, Ian Hutchison, as a provincial court judge, just three days before the trial was about to begin.

Hutchison has been replaced by Halifax defence lawyer Jennifer MacDonald. But at a hearing last Thursday, Drake's other defence lawyer, Toronto-based Michael Lacy, said it would not be realistic for the new team to get up to speed in time to protect these trial dates.

Justice Scott Norton scheduled a hearing Wednesday to discuss options.

The judge had offered dates in January of next year, but Lacy said he was unable to clear commitments he had to other clients in other courtrooms.

The next available block of time is from May 13 to June 20 of next year. All four lawyers involved in this case are available, but Justice Norton has a scheduling conflict. He told the lawyers during Wednesday's video hearing that court staff are now looking for another judge to take on those other responsibilities. Norton said they would also need to confirm that a courtroom is available.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, criminal jury trials in Halifax have all been held at a specially designed courthouse in Burnside. There are two courtrooms there that are big enough to accommodate trials with social distancing.

Since there are still some loose ends, Justice Norton has scheduled another video conference for Oct. 2 to confirm the dates and availability of a courtroom.

Should the May dates not work, the next available block of time is in September of next year, one year after the original trial was derailed and three years after Stay was killed.

Lacy told court his client is prepared to wait in order to keep the lawyers he has now.

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