The man accused of stabbing two Australian National University students in broad daylight will aim to skip a jury trial, his defence lawyer has told a court.
Alex Leonard Ophel, 25, previously denied two counts of attempted murder and two counts of common assault after being accused of assaulting four students without provocation in September last year.
On Wednesday, Ophel faced the ACT Supreme Court to be officially arraigned on his two most serious charges relating to the alleged campus attack. He stood and again denied them.
Ophel also pleaded not guilty to two alternative charges of intentionally inflict grievous bodily harm.
As he has indicated previously, defence solicitor Tim Sharman told the court the "issue at the trial will be one of mental impairment", meaning the man was not criminally responsible for his actions and therefore not guilty.
But Mr Sharman also said "this may be a matter that can be dealt with by a consent judgement" rather than a criminal trial.
The court heard he intended to make representations to the territory's prosecuting office reflecting that belief and in hopes it would concede the mental impairment defence.
In such a circumstance, the decision of whether to accept the not guilty plea would then fall in the court's hands.
Mr Sharman said he was expecting an expert report next week and would be passing it onto the ACT Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Prosecutor Emma Bayliss told the court the office's position was to wait and see the report in question.
The case is set to return to court next week, when it will go before a registrar for directions.
