The B.C. Court of Appeal said it plans to allow an appeal from Ivan Henry, the Vancouver man who was found guilty in 1983 of rape and indecent assault involving eight different women.
Henry, now 63, was released on bail pending an appeal last year after spending nearly 26 years in prison.
Justice Richard Low interrupted the opening address from Henry's laywer, David Layton, 20 minutes into hearing the appeal hearing in a Vancouver courtroom Monday morning.
"It appears to us a new trial must be allowed or the conviction overturned. The appeal should focus on these two choices," Low said.
Layton says Henry should not face a new trial because the evidence against him is too weak and the court should overturn the convictions.
In 2009, the B.C. Court of Appeal agreed to reopen the case after a review of events by government-appointed lawyer Len Doust concluded the guilty verdict may have been a miscarriage of justice.
The Crown and defence have agreed that methods used to identify Henry as a suspect were questionable.
Henry, who represented himself at his trial, has always maintained that he was wrongfully convicted.
He was arrested on July 29, 1982, following a string of attacks against women in the Vancouver-area.
Henry was convicted and declared a dangerous offender the following year. Appeals in 1984 and 1997 were unsuccessful.
With files from CTV British Columbia's Jon Woodward and The Canadian Press
