Skilling ... Outside of the Box
Defense lawyer Dan Petrocelli has asked former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling to leave the witness box twice this morning to stand before a chart and explain the nature of Enron's unorthodox business and financing to jurors.
In this courtroom sketch, former Enron executive Jeffrey Skilling points to a chart Wednesday during questioning from his attorney, Daniel Petrocelli. (AP)
Which is fine for the jurors, who are in the same courtroom as Skilling.
But here in the Overflow Press Room (OPR), five floors below the courtroom, we are watching the trial, essentially, on television. A camera in the courtroom is trained on the witness box, in tight crop, meaning we get a good view of the witness and their expressions, but really nothing else. We don't see the jurors or their reaction, lawyers are only fleeting images walking occasionally across the screen and Judge Sim Lake is a disembodied voice of authority with a Texas twang.
With Skilling off-camera and away from the witness box microphone, we see an empty chair and hear his voice talking to jurors. It can have a somnolent effect, like listening to a college economics lecture with your eyes closed, catching bits and pieces of the professor's lesson.
"Let's say we bought 10 units of natural gas at $3 per mcf..."
"...you'd have an open position..."
"...in mark-to-market accounting, you'd have to show the loss..."
"...daily position report..."
"The VAR engine..."
"...the following Saturday, FERC..."
Ah. Skilling back in the witness box. Very helpful. He is wearing a purple tie today. I don't know where he gets his ties, but they are barely-but-noticeably thinner than your standard tie. Not as thin as the 1960s skinny ties worn by engineers and the 1980s skinny ties worn by New Wavers, but not quite the typical width you see on a business executive.
By Frank Ahrens |
April 12, 2006; 12:08 PM ET
| Category:
In the Overflow Room
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Posted by: peter haley | April 14, 2006 03:54 PM
Ah. Thanks much. We also have fashion consultants among us. There was some fashion flamboyance in the courtroom today--I'm told by my colleagues actually *in* the courtroom--displayed by federal prosecutor Kathryn Ruemmler, who wore some stiletto heels. Some woman journos retired to the Overflow Press Room (OPR) after court was adjourned today and were arguing over whether her shoes were "fuschia" or...what was the other color they said? "Begonia?" Is that a color as well as a tuber? At any rate, I drew from their discussion that they were high heels in a color I would probably call "pink."
Posted by: Frank Ahrens | April 18, 2006 10:29 PM
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Skilling is wearing Hermes ties, which are worn extensively by CEO's and professionals;please notice that Petrocelli wears them as well. So does Lay.They seem to be a favorite of the old enron crowd, but Hermes, a very successful company, is doing a lot better now than Skilling.