Kern Spencer trial to resume on December 21

The marathon corruption trial of former Junior Minister for Energy, Kern Spencer, has been tentatively set to resume on December 21.

The resumption date was set this morning when the case was mentioned in the Corporate Area Criminal Court.

The trial has been delayed to await the outcome of the legal showdown between the Director of Public Prosecutions, Paula Llewellyn, and the senior magistrate, Judith Pusey.

In May, the Director was granted leave by the Supreme Court to challenge a subpoena served on her to become a witness at the trial.The Judicial Review Court is to hear the application on December 12.

Mr Spencer's lawyers, who had complained that they were left out of the legal fight, have now been given the green light by a judge to enter the dispute before the Review Court.

 Ms Llewellyn applied for Judicial Review after Mr Spencer's attorneys served her with a subpoena, claiming she is now a witness in the matter.

The defence team argued that she will be called as a witness to shed light on her November 2008 meeting with then co-accused, Rodney Chin. Following the meeting, the charges were dropped against Mr. Chin.

But Ms Llewellyn is challenging the subpoena, claiming that it's a grand scheme by Mr Spencer's attorneys to have her removed from the case.

She also complained that Senior Magistrate, Judith Pusey, was wrong in not setting aside the subpoena.

Mr Spencer and his former assistant, Coleen Wright, are on trial for money laundering and corruption arising from the collapse of the Cuban Lightbulb programme.