The man charged with bombing the National Crime Authority office in Adelaide has lost a bid to seek more clarity on the accusations against him, despite claims the prosecution's case includes "contradictory particulars".
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Domenic Perre has been charged with murder and attempted murder over the 1994 explosion, which killed Detective Sergeant Geoffrey Bowen and injured NCA lawyer Peter Wallis.
In the Supreme Court on Wednesday, defence counsel Gilbert Aitken argued particulars in the prosecution's case "fundamentally contradict each other" and needed to be clearer before the case could proceed to trial.
He said more clarity was needed so Perre's defence team could prepare and make "tactical decisions" with respect to cross-examining witnesses and for other "tactical imperatives" in relation to the criminal liability attached to the defendant.
"Particulars at the most basic level set the proper framework for a trial," Mr Aitken told the court.
"That framework ... in a modern-day expression, it is so the parties are both on the same page."
Justice David Lovell clarified the particulars in question with the prosecution, but said it was difficult to see any unfairness at present.
"The prosecution case is that Mr Perre arranged for the bomb to be sent with the intention to murder Mr Bowen or cause serious bodily harm," Justice Lovell said.
"In an effort to prove he sent the bomb, there is evidence on the Crown case that he was actually involved in the construction of the parcel that was eventually sent.
"It remains the prosecution case that if there were others involved in the construction of the bomb, it was at the direction of Mr Perre."
Perre was arrested in 2018 following a joint investigation, lasting more than two years, by a number of state and federal authorities including the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.
He had been charged shortly after the bombing, but the charges were later withdrawn.
At a previous hearing in Adelaide Magistrates Court, Perre's defence argued that the only new evidence against him was a "conga line of informants".
The court was told those people were all "motivated by self-interest" and were "unconstrained by morality".
The NCA bombing has been one of South Australia's highest-profile cases, with a $1 million reward offered in 2008 for information leading to the conviction of the person or people responsible.
Perre will return to court on April 3.
Australian Associated Press
