( L - R ) Knight, Llewellyn

DIRECTOR OF Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn has hinted that audio recordings done by former co-accused Rodney Chin suggest that more persons may have been involved in the Cuban light-bulb affair.

"It is a pity that we had not known from before that these recordings had been done," Llewellyn told journalists yesterday.

"Perhaps it would have made life even more interesting for other parties that are not here."

Audio recordings

Llewellyn, however, declined to say whether the additional material the Crown has stumbled upon - 27 audio recordings - could have led to the arrest and charge of other persons.

North East St Elizabeth Member of Parliament Kern Spencer and his companion, Coleen Wright, who was his personal assistant at the energy ministry, are facing corruption and money-laundering charges in the court. Spencer was junior minister in the People's National Party (PNP) administration at the time of the project and had responsibility for its implementation. Both have pleaded not guilty and the trial has hit a snag since the Crown discovered two weeks ago that audio-tape materials to the case were in existence.

More time needed

In her submission to Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey, Llewellyn said the Crown needed more time to get the transcripts of the tapes. She also said a statement which the court requested from Chin, as well as a statement from the police computer expert who transferred the files from Chin's cellular phone to CDs, is outstanding.

K.D. Knight, Wright's counsel, unleashed a battery of insults at the Office of the DPP and labelled the handling of the matter by Llewellyn and her team as "sloppy".

"This demonstrates inefficiency, incom-petence, sloppiness and a vulgar attempt to derail the defence," Knight told the court.

Llewellyn said she was not fazed by Knight's comments.

In court, Knight and Spencer's attorney, Patrick Atkinson, said the DPP had not done enough investigation to ascertain whether there were additional materials to disclose to the defence.

Previous knowledge

Knight charged that had Llewellyn's office done sufficient investigation, it would have found out about the tapes. He also said there were two stories about how the tapes came into being; one of which is that the police always knew about them but felt they would not assist the prosecution.

Llewellyn, however, rubbished that story. She said knowledge of the existence of the tapes came when Chin was giving police a statement on September 15. At the time of giving police the statement, Chin reportedly said he had the taped conversations between himself and Spencer on his cellular phone.

Of the 27 taped conversations, which are said to be more than two hours in length, 25 allegedly took place between Chin and Spencer.

The case, which was yesterday adjourned until October 26 in the Corporate Area Magistrate's Court, has been before the courts since February 2008. The trial will not resume until next year.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com