A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge is being asked to decide what evidence accused killer Jimmy Melvin Jr. will be able to see.

Melvin is charged with first-degree murder in the February 2009 shooting death of Terry Marriott Jr.

The Crown wants Melvin's lawyer, Pat MacEwan, to sign an undertaking to supervise Melvin's access to the evidence.

"Unfortunately, I can't sit with Mr. Melvin for hours and hours while he reads a police file," MacEwan said. ''Or days and days. That doesn't seem practical from our point of view.''

A question of safety

Crown prosecutor Brian Warcop said it's a matter of safety.

''I can't get into specifics because I don't want to affect the application itself,'' Warcop said. "It's issues in terms of general safety of the witnesses. I cannot go into specifics, like per witness.''

MacEwan is questioning the Crown's safety concerns.

''Mr. Melvin's going to find out who the witnesses are in any event,'' MacEwan said outside court Thursday.

''He's currently in custody. He's likely to be in custody for the near future at the very least. We just don't share those concerns.''

Melvin is currently being held in segregation at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Centre in Burnside. MacEwan had complained about the duration and type of custody Melvin has been facing. But he said that is not the priority right now; getting access to the evidence is.

Crown struck immunity deal with witness

The case was in provincial court earlier this week to set dates for a preliminary inquiry. But MacEwan said, without being able to view the evidence, he can't determine how he will proceed.

Part of the Crown's evidence will include testimony from a convicted criminal who has struck an immunity deal in exchange for his evidence.

The same day Melvin made his first court appearance on the murder charge before the courts, the Crown withdrew all charges against Derek Thomas MacPhee.

MacPhee, 34, was one of three men arrested and charged in June after a violent home invasion in Upper Sackville.

RCMP said at the time that two men broke into the home and tied up a man, his wife and their 13-year-old child. The robbers fled with stolen items.

The charges against MacPhee and his alleged accomplices included breaking and entering, robbery, unlawful confinement and assault with a weapon.

MacPhee no longer faces those charges. He was transferred out of the Burnside jail just before Melvin's arrest and taken to an undisclosed location.

The Supreme Court hearing on MacEwan's motion for disclosure will be heard Oct. 8.