A judge has acquitted two Ontario Liberals of bribery charges under the Election Act, in relation to the Sudbury byelection case.

Lawyers have filed written arguments for the directed verdict application that's set to be heard Oct. 10 in Sudbury, before the defence has even called any witnesses.

What is at stake in the Sudbury byelection trial has little to do with charges from a never before tested statute, and everything to do with the kind of leader Kathleen Wynne promised she would be.

The allegations at the centre of the trial revolve around the 2015 byelection that saw Glenn Thibeault leave the federal NDP and successfully run for the Ontario Liberals.

Pat Sorbara, the premier's former deputy chief of staff and Liberal campaign director, and Gerry Lougheed, a local Liberal organizer, are charged under the Election Act, accused of offering would-be candidate Andrew Olivier a job or appointment to get him to step aside for Wynne's preferred candidate in a 2015 Sudbury byelection.

Pat Sorbara, the Ontario Liberal Party CEO at the time of the allegations, and Gerry Lougheed, a local Liberal fundraiser, are facing bribery charges under the Election Act.

Pat Sorbara, who was at the time the Ontario Liberal Party CEO, and Gerry Lougheed, a local Liberal fundraiser, are both accused - under the Election Act - of offering would-be candidate Andrew Olivier a job or appointment to get him to step aside for Thibeault, who was Premier Kathleen Wynne's preferred candidate.

Ontario PC MPP Bill Walker issued a brief statement Wednesday evening to Global News and AM640 apologizing for his comments.

The Sudbury trial happens nearly simultaneously with another Liberal trial - related to the cancellation of two gas plants - which makes for terrible optics for the party.

Two Ontario Liberals facing Election Act bribery charges are set to go to trial in September.