The Darwin Local Court has issued a suppression order over CCTV footage from the Darwin Airport Tavern BWS on the night 20-year-old staff member Declan Laverty was allegedly murdered.
Keith Kerinauia, 19, has been charged with murder and a series of other offences, over the alleged stabbing in March 2023.
His case was mentioned briefly on Wednesday morning, where prosecutors and his defence lawyer asked the court to prevent "graphic" CCTV footage from being released to the media.
"It's not in the [public] arena yet," prosecutor Marty Aust told the court.
"But on occasion there is a failure ... if there is some accidental administrative error where there's the release of something that might prejudice a trial, that's my only concern."
Mr Aust stopped short of explaining what could be seen in the CCTV but said it "goes to the allegation and the conduct".
"That is a critical piece of evidence, and this trial needs to occur in the criminal court, not in the court of public opinion," he said.
"The crown and the accused need to have the right to a fair trial."
Defence lawyer Peter Maley said "most of the critical evidence" had been disclosed and that he had watched the "graphic material" in question, telling Judge Therese Austin he supported the application to suppress the video from publication.
Judge Austin ordered CCTV from the Airport Tavern was "not to be disclosed to any third party or the media", making publication of the footage illegal.
Mr Laverty, 20, was allegedly stabbed to death while working the final minutes of his shift at the Darwin Airport Tavern BWS earlier this year.
He had moved to Darwin from Cairns about 18 months earlier.
Mr Kerinauia remains in custody at Darwin's Holtze Prison and was not required to attend court.
He has not yet entered a plea to the charges and will return to court on July 12.
