LUKE Mitchell's attempt to continue to challenge his conviction for the murder of schoolgirl Jodi Jones hung by a thread today.
Mitchell, 21, appeared briefly at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh to hear that crossed wires had prevented a planned hearing going ahead.
Mitchell's legal team thought they were there for a "procedural matter" to decide the next court da
te.
But judges had come prepared to rule on whether Mitchell – who has already lost an appeal against conviction – should be allowed to re-open the question of DNA evidence.
Four similar attempts to re-open appeals have already been knocked back.
Lord Gill, sitting with Lord Hardie and Lady Cosgove agreed to continue the legal debate over Mitchell to another day – when they will also consider whether his minimum sentence of 20 years should stand.
The legal question dates back to last year when Mitchell shared the dock with another of Scotland's most notorious murderers.
Nat Fraser, 52, was also trying to get the go-ahead to re-open his appeal.
Appeal judges ruled against Fraser, but made no decision in Mitchell's case because, at the time, he was between lawyers and had no legal representation.
No date has been fixed for the next hearing.
Mitchell was found guilty of a savage knife attack on girlfriend Jodi Jones. The 14-year-old's naked, bound and mutilated body was found in June 2003 in woods beside a path which joined her house in the Easthouses area of Dalkeith with the Mitchell home in the Newbattle district.
After months of suspicion Mitchell – also 14 at the time of the murder – was charged and eventually brought to trial at the High Court in Edinburgh the following November.
Mitchell claims he did not get a fair chance to present new DNA evidence because of difficulties getting legal aid to carry out scientific inquiries.
