Dates for Michael Ball’s second murder trial were expected to be set Friday, when the Kitchener man appeared in court.

Instead, the matter was put off for another month.

Court heard that Ball’s application for assistance from Legal Aid Ontario was denied earlier this week – a decision he is appealing.

As a result, Ball has yet to retain a lawyer for the second trial. He hopes to be represented by Paul Burstein, a prominent Toronto-based criminal lawyer.

Ball is charged with murder in connection with the 2013 death of Erin Howlett.

It is alleged that he choked Howlett and disposed of her body in a duffel bag in the Grand River.

In March, a mistrial was declared after jurors failed to reach a consensus on the allegation of murder.

The jury did convict Ball of committing an indignity to a body. For that offence, he was sentenced to time already served plus one day – the minimum sentence the judge could prescribe.

Ball, who remains out on bail, has said that he will be seeking to have his second trial moved outside Waterloo Region.