A Trip Down a Painful River

A morning of fairly dry testimony just took an unexpectedly emotional turn as former Enron general counsel James Derrick reamins on the stand.

Defense lawyer Mark Holscher was using Derrick to paint a different picture of Jeffrey K. Skilling in the summer of 2001 than is widely accepted. That was when Skilling sold a bunch of Enron stock and quit the company just before things got really bad.

Derrick recalled an explosion at an Enron facility in England that killed or injured several workers or, as he put it, "members of the Enron family." Derrick said Skilling flew to England immediately to console family members.

When he returned, Derrick said, Skilling was a changed man.

"I don't know whether 'depressed' is the right word, but he was changed. Just a different demeanor," Derrick said.

Holscher then asked Derrick about rafting.

Derrick said he'd recommended a rafting trip to Skilling to reconnect with his family, saying such a trip had helped him. After Derrick decided to leave Enron's law firm -- Vinson & Elkins of Houston -- to become Enron's general counsel, he'd taken a rafting trip with his son, "my only child."

"I was able to take a long journey down the Grand Canyon, the Colorado River. I will be forever grateful, and I said that to Mr. Skilling, [because] my son later unexpectedly passed away," Derrick said, choking up.

Holscher quickly wrapped up his questions.

Derrick exhaled heavily and, after a moment, wiped away a tear.

By Frank Ahrens |  April 6, 2006; 11:51 AM ET  | Category:  Sidebars
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