Welcome, Houston Chronicle readers!
PLEASE NOTE THAT EVERYTHING IN MY BLOG, INCLUDING THIS POST, IS SIMPLY A STATEMENT OF MY OWN OPINION.
Earlier this week, I had the good fortune to arrive early for a federal court conference in one of my cases. The conference was in Houston, and the afternoon was that on which Ken Lay's cross-examination began. If you will recall, Lay was the CEO of the now-practically defunct Enron Corporation at the time of its spectacular blowup in 2001. He and another executive, Jeffrey Skilling, are now on trial for several counts of criminal wrongdoing associated with their efforts to make Enron appear much more healthy than it was, to the great detriment of the employees and shareholders. Just to give you an example of the corporate "culture" that existed, Lay testified last week that Andrew Fastow, the former CFO who struck a plea bargain in exchange for nailing Lay and Skilling to the wall, tried to negotiate a $5 million severance package during the meeting in which Lay fired him for pulling millions of dollars in personal profit out of companies that were related/not related to Enron (depending on which version of the facts you were given).
Anyway, I was somehat awestruck by the number of television cameras and photographers outside the federal courthouse. It was fun to pretend as I walked up that they were there for me, even though my conference was a very routine one. As you may imagine, I was also delighted to have the opportunity to see one of the most followed, if not one of the most important, cross examinations in the State of Texas, which started just minutes before my arrival.
(by Pat Lopez AP)
Here are some of the things I wrote in my notebook while I watched in rapt attention from an overflow room, in which Lay's testimony was projected live onto a large screen:
- Lay looks like a bulldog with a shock collar on who finds the zapping to be an impudent annoyance, rather than something painful of which to be frightened.
- Lay "doesn't remember" anything his lawyers have said about the case, even when said while he stood right next to them.
- After eliciting testimony about why Lay denouced a government witness for the cameras, but offered him support and sympathy in the men's room during the witness's testimony, the Prosecutor incredulously addressed Lay's explanation by stating, "You tried to make him feel better by calling him a liar and a monkey?"
- The only noise in the overflow room (where the press and members of the public who won't fit in the courtroom gather) is the rapid tapping of fingers on laptop keys, occasionally punctuated by gasps and barely-stifled laughter in response to the more biting of Lay's comments.
- An important admission by Lay: "I suppose I had access to about any information I wanted to obtain."
- Lay then throws the Enron Board of Directors under the bus, saying "they had a duty to the shareholders . . . and could have fired me if they wanted to."
- Asked by the Prosecutor if his role as the Chief Compliance Officer meant Lay was in charge of detecting and preventing criminal conduct at Enron, Lay responded, in effect, "Define 'in charge'."
- When the Prosecutor touched on the subject of whether it was part of the compliance process for Lay's secretary to screen which matters required his attention (which refers to an incident in which Lay's secretary apparently diverted a matter at issue in the case from reaching his desk), Lay stumbled and did not have a ready answer.
- Lay was repeatedly snippy with the Prosecutor, talking back to him with rude comments or questions. He responded to the Prosecutor's announcement that they would be moving on to a different topic with an emphatic and stern, "Good," which reminded me of my Dad's tone of voice after I promised that some youthful misstep would never happen again. I have practiced law for several years and have never seen a witness behave as disrespectfully toward his/her questioner, whether in deposition or at trial. And my cases typically involve disgruntled former employees who are often pathological liars. Hm.
- A person sitting near me (who I happened to know from my days of working in Houston) said that Lay makes Skilling look like a puppy dog on the stand--she is excited because the Financial Times plans to quote her.
If you are interested in getting a more hour-by-hour perspective on the trial, here are some helpful links:
Houston Chronicle's Trial Watch Blog
Loren Steffy's Business Blog, also from the Houston Chronicle
The Washington Post's Enron Blog (by Frank Ahrens)
The New York Times Enron coverage
*************************************************
Favorite quote I've read today:
And now here is a pat on the back with instructions of how to properly remove the cheese from my car.by Anna. You'll have to read her blog to figure out why she needs to remove cheese from her car. After you read it, tell me: are you as amazed as I am that a high schooler can write this well? Heck, I've known seven-year lawyers who cannot write this well.
*************************************************
The most amusing portion of my week was that in which I saw David Sedaris speak. Some of his quotes which made me laugh the hardest (and which I was able to scribble in my notebook in the dark) were:
- "I think there is a difference between filth generated by the writer and that observed" (before sharing a filthy, but funny, series of events)
- "'Shit' is the tofu of cursing . . . the verbal equivalent of the everyday china"
- "It was as if they had kidnapped the grandparents from a Ralph Lauren ad and placed them in a David Mamet play"
- " . . . the number one reason not to blow a horse in your bedroom."
