Defence lawyer Don McKay says a date for Ruby Ann Ruffolo’s new first-degree murder trial likely will be set on Friday in B.C. Supreme Court.

The eight-month murder trial for the death of her husband, John, ended in a mistrial Nov. 5 after Ruffolo’s defence lawyer, David Lyon, withdrew from the case, citing his ongoing health problems.

McKay, who is expected to be retained as Ruffolo’s defence lawyer, said he will appear in court Friday with Crown prosecutor Scott Van Alstine to set a date for the second trial.

“Anything earlier than June [2010] is going to be pushing it,” he said, adding that nonetheless the trial could happen as early as May.

McKay said he will make the submission before B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mary Humphries, who presided over the first trial.

He had said previously that Lyon or a senior lawyer might be able to assist him with the case, but Sunday he revealed that legal aid will not pay for more than one lawyer.

“That leaves David [Lyon’s] position up in the air,” McKay said. “It looks like I’m going to be plugging along on my own.”

John’s body was found Oct. 25, 2003, in a ditch off Humpback Road in Langford. Ruffolo was arrested and charged in March 2004. The Crown alleges that after Ruffolo tried to hire someone to kill her husband, she gave him a lethal cocktail of heroin and the anti-depressant amitriptyline.

Over the past six years, Ruffolo has been represented by six lawyers and has had numerous adjournments.

The Law Society of B.C. is investigating the circumstances that led to the mistrial.