A not guilty plea has been entered on behalf of a 34-year-old who was charged with murder last month after another man died at a South Auckland property.

The defendant, who continues to have name suppression, appeared for the first time in the High Court at Auckland today as Justice Neil Campbell accepted the deemed not guilty plea and set a trial date for next September.

Police said last month that they found a man with critical injuries at a Jane Cowie Avenue address in Ōtāhuhu around 8pm on August 18.

"Despite police providing first aid, he has died at the scene," Counties Manukau CIB Detective Inspector Warrick Adkin said at the time.

Justice Campbell allotted three weeks for the murder trial during today's hearing.

The defendant was remanded into custody to await his next court appearance in November, at which point it is expected he will have a new lawyer and name suppression will be reassessed.