NYT: Rating Jeffrey Skilling's Court Debut

[DeepModem Mom]

Rating Skilling's Court Debut

....Below, some reactions and commentary to Mr. Skilling’s first days of testimony.

Criminal defense attorney Brice Wice, interviewed by MSNBC’s Dan Abrams:

"I thought he birdied the first three holes, Dan, like you said. He came out smoking. He talked about how he was nervous that his life was on the line. That he never, no, not once ever thought about sitting down with the Enron task force and cutting a deal, and how of some of those people, indeed, the vast majority of his friends who already pled guilty, were innocent.

I really think he had a problem though later on when he started discussing the collapse of the company, particularly his relationship with Andy Fastow. You could see some of the old Skilling, some of the bile, some of the vitriol, some of the arrogance , something he needs to watch in the days ahead."

Houston Chronicle reporter Mary Flood, interviewed on American Public Media’s “Marketplace”:

"He has stressed his family throughout this. He has talked about missing his family when he was obsessed with Enron, spending time with his family when he finally resigned in August of 2001. He’s talking about his family a lot and they are trying to humanize him, which is what you always do with a defendant. He is known for tirades, known for insulting people, known for sarcasm, and on the stand, he has been fairly meek and mild and calm. Not the person we have seen in the past."

From The Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog:

"So did he come off as knowing and shrewd? Sort of. To the Law Blog, Skilling appeared intelligent but never arrogant or patronizing. He impressively broke down and explained complex concepts to the jury. In one instance, he skillfully explained the important correlation between a company’s credit rating and its ability to grow. We suspect he would have been a terrific business school professor."...

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=1789

[DUHandle]

1. Much time passed since the financial scandals became news

and I initially thought that the trials were being delayed for political reasons.

Right or wrong, it’s a good thing that this is coming to court before the midterm elections.

[Demeter]

2. Cry Me A River, Jeff

Sounds like the parricide pleading for mercy from the court since he's just become an orphan (by his own hand).