A suspended Mountie accused of stabbing an Ottawa police officer to death outside the Civic Campus of the Ottawa Hospital will be back in court with a new lawyer on Friday.

Kevin Gregson appeared in court via video link Monday afternoon, advising the court he will have a new lawyer by the end of the week.

Gregson was clean-shaven and wearing an orange jumper for the brief court appearance, in which his eyes remained downcast.

Gregson fired his lawyer Israel Gencher when he appeared in court last week. Gregson did not say why he chose to fire his lawyer, and Gencher said he wasn't given a reason for his sudden departure.

Gregson will now appoint defence lawyer Geraldine Castle-Trudel to the case. She's expected to speak with him at the detention centre early this week.

Gregson will make his next court appearance in person at the Elgin Street courthouse on Friday morning.

The judge warned Gregson last week that firing his lawyer would delay the case. A preliminary hearing that was scheduled for Oct. 1 has already been cancelled as a result.

Gregson is charged with the first-degree murder of Const. Eric Czapnik who was stabbed to death in an attack outside the Ottawa Hospital on Dec. 29.

Gregson, who suffered from mental health problems, was suspended with pay from the RCMP in September 2006 after he was accused of threatening a Morman bishop with a knife. He later pleaded guilty to those accusations and his pay was revoked in April 2007.