charges of assaulting a former tenant.

Smith, 38, of Spring Hill Close, Warwick, pleaded not guilty in Magistrates' Court to a charge he assaulted Sharon Williams on September 1, last year.

Before Magistrate Archibald Warner could set a trial date, in an odd twist, Smith told the court he had understood the case would be "dispensed'' with.

But Crown counsel Leighton Rochester said he had no knowledge of this and asked for the case to be "delisted'' and set down again for its original date December 1.

Mr. Rochester continued: "I was called at 8.17 p.m. last evening by the Acting Director of Public Prosecutions (William Pierce) and told to go to court and have this matter delisted for today and have it revert to the original day of December 1.

"What I can tell you is between July 21, when he was originally charged, and today, the court was asked to set a date. It was brought forward to today.'' Later, when asked again by Mr. Warner about the decision making behind the case, Mr. Rochester said: "Those are my instructions. I will defer to Mr.

(William) Pierce who is here now.'' Mr. Warner replied that Mr. Pierce, who sat in the gallery during part of the hearing, was a member of the Bar and could address the court at anytime.

"He's your boss. You don't call him,'' Mr. Warner told Mr. Rochester.

But Smith told Mr. Warner: "It was my understanding, as I perceive it, that this matter can be handled under a section 64 (of the Criminal Code). I was requested to come to court to dispose of the case.'' Smith -- using the old name of the restructured prosecutors office -- insisted: "My being asked here was by the Attorney General's Chambers. It is my understanding that it would be resolved here and now.

"Somebody from the Attorney General's Chambers should stand up and say something about it. What would be the purpose of my being here?'' Mr. Warner appeared stunned by both Mr. Rochester's and Smith's responses.

Smith pleads not guilty to assaulting his former tenant "I don't know what agreements you made with whomever. Somehow you have appeared before the courts. You were summoned here by someone else. You had a perception it would be handled differently. I don't take instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions' office.'' Mr. Warner added Smith was entitled to a trial.

When Smith asked why he was brought to court, Mr. Warner said: "I don't know and I don't care.'' Mr. Warner said the Senior Magistrate and the other junior magistrates set court dates, and he bristled at the notion the court could be influenced.

"You're missing one thing,'' he told Smith. "You're deluded to think that a section 64 would fall from the heavens this morning. Despite what people think, these courts are independent. As long as I am here, I will see that they operate independently.'' To Mr. Rochester, he said: "You're not conceding this was an abuse of process were you?'' Mr. Rochester replied: "I'm conceding that I was telephoned. I'm not privy to the defendant's conversations with whomever.'' Mr. Warner then adjourned the matter until this morning, saying: "You all can do whatever you want to do in the meantime.'' Smith dropped out of last year's political campaign after evicting Mrs.

Williams and her husband from a house he owned at Spring Hill.

The eviction was seen as politically embarrassing for the PLP, when it was keen to make affordable housing for Bermudians a major issue and portray the then United Bermuda Party Government as unconcerned.

Last year, Smith maintained the couple had agreed to vacate the property by August 31, and he said he therefore saw them as trespassers on September 1.

In court: Former political candidate Rodney Smith arriving for his court date yesterday.