Australia's highest court will hear an appeal against the downgraded murder conviction of Brisbane wife killer Gerard Baden-Clay in July.
Queensland's Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was on Thursday granted special leave in the High Court to contest a controversial Court of Appeal decision to replace his murder conviction with the lesser charge of manslaughter.
The court on Friday set down the appeal for hearing before a full bench on July 26 in Brisbane.
A jury in 2014 convicted Baden-Clay of murdering his wife, Allison, but the conviction was changed to manslaughter by the Queensland Court of Appeal in December 2015.
The appeal court ruled it could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt that Baden-Clay intended to kill Allison in April 2012 - a decision that prompted community outrage.
The DPP sought an appeal hearing partly on the grounds the Court of Appeal decision endorsed a "piecemeal" approach to circumstantial evidence instead of considering the case as a whole.
Questions about the issue of motive, as it relates to proving intent in a murder case, are also expected to be raised and debated at the July hearing.
Baden-Clay denied killing his wife during his 2014 trial, before his legal team last year argued she may have been unintentionally killed during a violent argument.
Legal figures have said while High Court decisions are usually reserved, there should be a resolution to the matter by the end of the year.
Allison's cousin, Jodie Dann, was in the High Court in Canberra on Thursday when the special leave application was granted and wept after the decision was announced.
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