U.S. Wants Lay, Skilling, Trials Together

[cal04]

Enron founder Kenneth Lay, his successor as CEO Jeffrey Skilling and the company's former top accountant should go to trial as a trio because all allegedly conspired to conceal the true state of Enron's finances, the government said in a court filing.Prosecutors with the Justice Department's Enron Task Force countered previous requests from Lay, Skilling and former chief accounting officer Richard Causey to have separate trials, contending that an overall conspiracy ties them together despite their arguments that allegations against them overlap thinly -- if at all.

``Lay, Skilling and Causey are properly joined as defendants because they are all charged in the same overarching conspiracy count,'' prosecutors said in a filing delivered Friday to U.S. District Judge Sim Lake. The judge is expected to rule on the issue by early October
Last month, Lay was the first to file requests asking to be tried apart from Skilling and Causey, noting his willingness to forgo a jury and leave his fate in Lake's hands. A week later, Skilling and Causey filed their own requests for separate trials.

Lay wants to be tried as soon as possible. Skilling and Causey want another year and a half to prepare. The government wants to try the trio together next spring.The 53-count indictment that charges the men with various crimes stemming from Enron's collapse began in January with a few charges against Causey. Skilling was added as a defendant in February, and Lay was added in July. All three have pleaded innocent.Skilling and Causey each face more than 30 counts of conspiracy, fraud, lying to auditors and insider trading that span nearly two years until Enron crashed into bankruptcy in December 2001. Causey also faces several counts of money laundering.

Lay's legal team calls the charges against him an ``add-on'' and say he could suffer from having to sit through a protracted ``mega-trial.''Skilling's lead trial attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, says the addition of Lay to the mix has heightened risk that even the most conscientious of jurors won't be able to compartmentalize evidence as it relates to the former chairman and former CEO.But Causey's lawyers say he could suffer from the notoriety of the other two. His team also says the trio's defenses could collide if Skilling and Lay claim they relied on accountants -- including Causey -- in getting assurance that all was well at Enron.


http://www.nytimes.com/redirect/marketwatch/redirect.ctx?MW=http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/html-companyprofile.asp&symb=ENRNQ

[leesa]

1. Awww...the poor thief and scoundrel might have to sit through a protracted

trial. This fucker is trying for a pass from Bush.

[acmavm]

2. Yeah, that cracked me up too. Hate to see poor Kenny Boy suffer.

That job has been allocated to all the poor schmucks he defrauded while telling them to by Enron stock while he was dumping his.

And I sure bet they're surprised that they can't just tell the court how they want to be tried, when they want to be tried, etc. Have they told them yet that they also object to the possibility that they all may be found GUILTY?

[GoldenOldie]

3. "Lay wants the trial as soon as possible."

And the stockholders want their money back immediately.

[shraby]

4. If Kerry gets elected, there'll be no pardon for

Kenny Boy Lay

[DemoTex]

6. The hell there won't!

Bu$h WILL pardon Lay, whether he is re-elected or lame-duck. Count on that.

[Octafish]

5. Does trying them together reduce the chance for a conviction?

The prosecutors work for Crisco Ashcan, so you know they don't want to hurt their boss's money bags. If not a "not guilty" verdict, maybe they can keep their careers with a mistrial?

[Just Me]

7. NO! Unless they seek a RICO indictment as well.

They certainly have everything at stake in this election.

Well,...I only wish that the election of Kerry would pull this whole corrupt house of cards down to all that they have, with total evil, inflicted upon a mass of powerless others.

They will not experience any inclination, by me, towards empathy,...if they should suffer, a bit.

[Yupster]

8. My opinion is it should be up to

defendants whether they are tried together or separate.

They have the most at stake. They are the ones on trial.