Spencer

Respondents in a motion, which former state minister Kern Spencer has filed seeking full disclosure from the director of public prosecutions (DPP), are to file affidavits by next Monday.

Spencer, who is facing charges stemming from the multimillion-dollar Cuban light bulb scandal, has taken the DPP to the Consti-tutional Court.

The hearing was put off yesterday, until June 11, when the parties came before Justice Lloyd Hibbert in chambers, to give the respondents time to file affidavits. The DPP and the attorney general are the respondents.

Spencer is seeking to get full disclosure of the conversations between DPP Paula Llewelyn, or agents of her department, and his former co-accused, 45-year-old businessman Rodney Chin, or Chin's lawyer.

Chin's charges dropped

Charges were dropped against Chin in January and he will be testifying for the Crown.

Spencer is contending that the DPP's alleged refusal to make full disclosure is a breach of his constitutional right and he should be given same.

In court documents filed on April 24, Spencer said his lawyers had written to the DPP in January but the DPP's response was that she had already made full disclosure.

The matter came before the court on May 4 and was put off until yesterday after government lawyers suggested Chin should have been served with the court documents. Chin has since been served as an interested party.

Spencer, who is being represented by attorneys-at-law Patrick Atkinson, Deborah Martin and Sharon Usim, is contending that if full disclosure is not made, the resident magistrate who is going to try his case will not have the necessary information to adequately assess Chin's credibility.

The 33-year-old Spencer was arrested and charged in February last year and his case has been set to start on June 22 for two weeks in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court. He is charged jointly with 27-year-old Colleen Wright, his former assistant.

The charges range from conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act.

Spencer is facing nine charges and Wright six.

barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com