A Saskatchewan man convicted of murdering his 78-year-old father is trying to convince a jury to give him a shot at early parole.

Stanley Livingston, 48, has served 18 years of a life sentence and is seeking early release in so-called faint-hope hearing.

A jury in Melfort, Sask., is to hear evidence in the case for the next two weeks and must reach a unanimous decision on whether he can be eligible for early released.

The controversial faint-hope clause, part of the Criminal Code, allows killers convicted of first or second-degree murder to request an early parole hearing in court.

The federal government repealed the faint-hope clause last year, but the change is not retroactive to those who were already in prison for murder.

Livingston was convicted in 1995 of first-degree murder and robbery and received an automatic life sentence with no eligibility of parole for 25 years.

Livingston had previously been in and out of jail for various property and mischief offences.

In February 1994, he and an accomplice were on leave from a correctional facility in Prince Albert when they consumed alcohol and marijuana and got their hands on a sawed-off shotgun.

Livingston then shot his father twice in the back and stole $142,000 that the senior had kept in his rural home.

Last year, Court of Queen's Bench Chief Justice Robert Laing granted Livingston's application for the special hearing.

"Mr. Livingston has maintained in interviews that he has no memory of the offence, but he accepts the evidence that he did it and accepts full responsibility for the murder," wrote Laing.

"He states that he is now remorseful for his actions that day."

Laing noted that a psychological report in 2008 concluded Livingston remains a moderate to high risk for committing violence.

Livingston is currently a prisoner at the minimum-security William Head Institution on Vancouver Island.

Correctional Service statistics show about 1,000 prisoners have been eligible under the faint-hope clause since 1976. About 130 have received parole.