The defence called no witnesses yesterday in the case of a road traffic accident that resulted in the death of former Labour Permanent Secretary Ernest Owen.

Glen Robinson, 55, of Kitty's Lane, Bailey's Bay, has been charged with causing the death of Mr. Owen by reckless driving, causing his death by dangerous driving, driving while impaired, and refusing to give a breath sample.

Before lawyers entered their closing arguments in the Supreme Court yesterday, Acting Chief Justice Norma Wade informed the jury that there was not sufficient evidence to convict Robinson on count four.

She requested they enter a not guilty verdict, to which they complied.

During closing arguments, Principal Crown counsel Khamisi Tokunbo suggested to the jury that there was "very little'' for them to grapple with.

He warned the jury that they should be careful of being "distracted by matters that are not the real issues.'' Mr. Tokunbo said it was not an issue of whether or not Mr. Owen was drinking on the night of the fatal March 25, 1995 accident.

"If Mr. Owen had been drunk -- and there was no evidence that he was, if he was on his side of the road, and Mr. Robinson was on the wrong side of the road and hit him, then Mr. Robinson is guilty of reckless or dangerous driving,'' he stated.

And Mr. Tokunbo said defence attorney Julian Hall's earlier intimations of a possible cover-up was a "smokescreen''.

"The real issue is whether or not the defence was driving recklessly,'' he said. "And an independent eyewitness, who had no reason to lie on Mr.

Robinson or defend Mr. Owen, said Mr. Robinson's van was on the wrong side of the road at the moment of impact.

"The defendant said `the guy was on my side of the road', but that is inconsistent with the eyewitness' testimony and Ch. Insp. (Roger) Kendall's testimony.

"Mr. Robinson had an interest of offering an explanation that suited him...And Mr. Owen can't give his version of what happened.'' During Mr.

Hall's closing arguments, he made allusions to the "Dark Ages'' during the days of witch hunts when the rights of defendants were not taken into consideration.

"We've come a long way since then...we are not in the Dark Ages anymore,'' he said.

But he added that the recent tendency in Bermuda was toward "throwing out the baby of justice with the bath water of expediency, without concerns for the rights of the defendant.'' He said the tone of Mr. Tokunbo's closing arguments indicated that there was "at least one person in this room with grave doubts about the guilt of the defendant -- namely, Mr. Tokunbo.'' Mr. Hall emphasised that he was not alleging a cover-up, but had merely "explored the possibility'' of a cover-up.

"We are concerned with the death of a senior civil servant in charge of running the Police Force,'' he said. "And we are entitled to look at the possibility that the testimony of the Police officers were tailormade.'' Regarding pathologist John Winwick's testimony that the results of Mr. Owen's autopsy had been contaminated, Mr. Hall stated: "Something smells.'' "Considering the dereliction of duty in performing that autopsy, it would be understandable if one said I don't want to be found dead in that place (King Edward VII Memorial Hospital),'' he added.

"Either something smells to high heaven, or at the very least, it really doesn't add up.''