http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/ en Copyright 2007 Thu, 06 Jul 2006 09:47:23 -0500 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss In a very quick turnaround, a Colorado coroner pronounced yesterday that Enron founder Kenneth L. Lay died of coronary artery disease and that the 64-year-old had suffered a previous heart attack. I doubt this will put all the conspiracy theories -- yes, they started the minute his death was announced -- to bed. It's not hard to diagnose severe arterial blockage. It can be done on the living with EKGs, angiograms and CT scans to check for arterial plaque.. Lay was 64, had blocked arteries, had suffered a heart attack and was under extraordinary stress. He was a prime candidate for what happened to him. And I won't even go into the Houston diet. Still, almost as soon as news of his death came out, the conspiracy theories started flying: * He killed himself because he couldn't face prison. * He was killed by someone (from disgruntled former Enron shareholders http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/07/no_foul_play.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/07/no_foul_play.html Dispatches Thu, 06 Jul 2006 09:47:23 -0500 It's coincidental, if not ironic, that Kenneth L. Lay should die of a heart attack. Several weeks into his trial on federal fraud charges, in March, defense lawyer Michael W. Ramsey said he believed he had suffered a small heart attack in court after shouting at a government witness, former Enron chief finance officer, Andrew S. Fastow. In late March, Ramsey had a stent placed in his heart to open clogged blood flow. He quickly developed problems with the stent and had to head back to the hospital for further help. Days later, he had a second stent implanted -- this one in his carotid artery. Ramsey never returned to the trial, leaving Lay's crucial testimony in the hands of back-up lawyer George "Mac" Secrest. Lay bullied Secrest from the witness stand, at one point saying, "I'm not sure where you're going with this" line of questioning. It was Lay's http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/07/heart_of_the_defense_1.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/07/heart_of_the_defense_1.html Dispatches Wed, 05 Jul 2006 16:58:28 -0500 Obviously, Kenneth L. Lay's family has other things on its mind now, but a quick check to www.kenlayinfo.com, which the Lay defense team posted more than a year ago and used to tell their client's side of the story, shows it is still active and has not been updated to reflect today's news. Indeed, the opening line of the most-recent entry, posted after his guilty verdict in May, reads eeriliy like a note from beyond, if the word "trial" is read figuratively rather than literally: "Dear Visitor: Now that my trial has concluded, I would like to offer a few brief comments." http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/07/note_from_the_afterlife.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/07/note_from_the_afterlife.html Dispatches Wed, 05 Jul 2006 16:17:32 -0500 I'm not surprised by the news of Kenneth L. Lay's sudden death. Nor am I surprised that death came now, less than two months after he was convicted of fraud and conspiracy for his role in Enron's downfall. In many ways, it seems almost inevitable. After Lay was found guilty on all six charges in May, he realistically faced the rest of his life in prison, come sentencing in September. At 64, even a 10-year sentence, what many observers expected, would have pushed him two years past the average lifespan of an American male. And that's an average American male who did not gain the whole world -- at least in his estimation -- and then lose it. There will be no facile and mean-spirited shots at the dead man here. No "he got what he deserved" or "he got off easy." I feel sympathy for his family -- whatever http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/07/a_semisurprise_ending.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/07/a_semisurprise_ending.html Dispatches Wed, 05 Jul 2006 14:53:03 -0500 Whatever will we talk about now? Now that a Houston jury has convicted former Enron executives Kenneth L. Lay and Jeffrey K. Skilling on fraud and conspiracy charges, let's do a little housekeeping, then take a look ahead. There are a couple of good stories in today's Houston Chronicle worth checking out. One is a profile of John Hueston, the government prosecutor who cross-examined Lay with such irritating jabs that the Enron founder turned into the Mean Old Man of the trial, destroying any chance he might have thought he had to charm the jury. Right out of the chute, Hueston accused Lay of witness tampering, something that he knew would disorient and anger Lay because it was outside of the indictment and most likely a surprise. The second is a Q-and-A with Jennifer Binder, the former Skilling girlfriend who started a digital photo business that did business with Enron http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/the_aftermath_1.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/the_aftermath_1.html Dispatches Fri, 26 May 2006 16:09:32 -0500 One commenter to this blog earlier today brought up the point that, perhaps up until now, Jeffrey K. Skilling and Kenneth L. Lay may not have contemplated spending actual time in jail. Now, assuming their convictions do not get overturned on appeal, that is a near-certainty. Legal experts have speculated that the two would be sentenced to a medium-security prison, not the light-security federal work camps once nicknamed "Club Fed." Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 11. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons Web site, medium-security FCIs (Federal Correctional Institutes) have "strengthened perimeters (often double fences with electronic detection systems), mostly cell-type housing, a wide variety of work and treatment programs, an even higher staff-to-inmate ratio than low security FCIs, and even greater internal controls." Medium-security prisons are sometimes part of a larger complex, such as in Beaumont, Tex., the closest to Houston, which has low-, medium- and high-security prisons. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/the_specter_of_prison_becomes_1.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/the_specter_of_prison_becomes_1.html Dispatches Fri, 26 May 2006 07:28:04 -0500 Kenneth L. Lay just poppped out of the court house with his family. The holdup: He had to come up with the $5 million required for his bail so he could go free. CBNC was reporting that there were federal agents in Lay's luxury Houston penthouse -- the last liquid asset he has (he testified he has an annuity for retirement of about $10 million, if I recall correctly) -- pricing assets to see if they added up to $5 million. The network also reported that family members had to sign forms vouching for Lay, i.e., pledging their assets to his bail. Wow. When he came out and faced the media, he made a brief statement, proclaiming his innocence and saying he'd have more to say later. "I am still a very blessed man," he said, next to his wife. "I have a very warm and loving Christian family that http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/lay_finally_emerges.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/lay_finally_emerges.html Dispatches Thu, 25 May 2006 16:24:08 -0500 Phew! Now that we're through the first flurry of activity reporting the verdicts against Kenneth L. Lay and Jeffrey K. Skilling, let's sit back and take a breath and think about what we've seen and what's ahead. First, a little housekeeping, which I should have gotten to earlier: Unlike in April, when I was in Houston, sitting in the Overflow Press Room (OPR, or Mole Hole, as dubbed by Houston AP reporter Kristen Hays), watching the testimony, I am now back in Washington. My colleague Carrie Johnson, who has been covering the story for four years now and the trial since its kickoff more than 16 weeks ago, is still in Houston. I'm sitting here at The Post's Continuous News Desk in the main newsroom amid a flurry of multimedia activity. So far, I've been on Washington Post Radio once, CNN Headline News twice and MSNBC once. Also, I'm reporting http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/taking_a_breath.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/taking_a_breath.html Dispatches Thu, 25 May 2006 15:16:20 -0500 Jeffrey K. Skilling and his lawyer, Dan Petrocelli, emerged from the court house and briefly addressed the media shortly after the verdict. But Kenneth L. Lay has yet to emerge. CNBC reported a few minutes ago that Lay and his family, as well as his lawyers and much of the Lay team, had joined hands in a circle of prayer, along with Lay's longtime pastor, Stephen Wende, inside the court house. Lay had said all along that the verdict was in God's hands. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/lay_in_prayer_1.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/lay_in_prayer_1.html Dispatches Thu, 25 May 2006 13:38:18 -0500 After the verdict was announced, several jurors talked to reporters, explaining what they found compelling in the testimony and evidence. One of the defense's key hopes was that the jury would discount the highly damaging testimony of former Enron chief financial officer Andrew S. Fastow. Fastow had pleaded guilty to several charges and cooperated with the government in its case against Jeffrey K. Skilling and Kenneth L. Lay. The defense told the jury that Fastow was damaged goods, that he'd say anything to save his hide. But at least one juror talking after the trial said the jury found the testimony of former Enron treasurer Benjamin Glisan both damaging and credible. Like Fastow, Glisan had pleaded guilty to fraud. But, unlike Fastow, he did not cooperate with the government. And -- bad news for Lay and Skilling -- Glisan was a copious note-taker. He put Lay and Skilling in meetings http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/grooving_on_glisan_1.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/grooving_on_glisan_1.html Dispatches Thu, 25 May 2006 13:07:45 -0500 It's pretty clear that the government prosecution hit a home run with the verdicts against former Enron chief executives Jeffrey K. Skilling and Kenneth L. Lay, which were just released. Lay was found guilty on all six couns, Skilling on 19 of 28 counts. The jury, which began deliberation May 17, clearly wanted to put a hurt on the top two men of Enron. After getting guilty pleas from several lesser Enron executives -- some of whom gave damaging testimony against Lay and Skilling -- it was important for government prosecutors Kathryn Ruemmler, Sean Berkowitz and John Hueston to get convictions against Lay and Skilling. Though the prosecution never produced a slam-dunk smoking-gun memo or e-mail, such as: "Dear Ken: Let's defraud the investors. Love, Jeff," it did a thorough job of damaging the credibility of both Lay and Skilling, essentially, saying, "If these two will lie about one thing, http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/guilty_guilty_and_guilty_1.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/guilty_guilty_and_guilty_1.html Dispatches Thu, 25 May 2006 12:51:07 -0500 Now that Kenneth L. Lay has finished his testimony, I'm heading back to D.C. It's been a ton of fun, at least partly thanks to my colleagues in the Overflow Press Room (OPR). And it's been a real privilege to have had a front-row seat (well, at least via projection TV) to this historic event. Thanks to all the readers and those who left comments -- you helped make this a real conversation and taught me plenty, too. But it's time to get home: When I asked my buddy Spencer, who -- along with my buddy Chris -- is watching my house, how high my grass is, he said: "There were a couple of guys in pith helmets in the backyard. I didn't want to disturb them." http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/ahrens_day_30_thats_a_wrap.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/ahrens_day_30_thats_a_wrap.html Dispatches Wed, 03 May 2006 13:44:09 -0500 As I wrote shortly after arriving here one month ago, my hotel is in what I like to call the "Bail Bonds District" of Houston, owing to the many businesses of that type around my lodgings. Upon further inspection, it really turns out to be the "Crime & Justice District." Not only is the Harris County Courthouse nearby, so is the family law center, the civil court, the juvenile justice center, a federal jail and four local jails. So it occured to me that, as I walk six blocks each morning to watch the highest-profile white-collar crime trial of this young century, I might meander a couple of blocks the other way -- literally and figuratively -- and talk to someone who makes their living in blue-collar crime, just for a different perspective. Bryan Johnson outside his bail-bond business in downtown Houston. (Frank Ahrens-The Washington Post) Which led me to http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/the_color_of_crime.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/the_color_of_crime.html Houstoniana Wed, 03 May 2006 11:05:02 -0500 Enron founder Kenneth L. Lay finished his testimony Tuesday about two hours into the day, walking off the stand just before 10 a.m. As soon as he left, a string of character witnesses followed, including Houston Astros owner Drayton McLean, who said, basically, Lay's a good guy but I never did business with him. Given that Lay's on trial for his business dealings, that's an arm's-length handshake from buddy Drayton. Then follow some technical witnesses and the government rebuttal of the defense case -- about two to three days -- after which each side will take a day in closing arguments before Judge Simeon T. Lake III's instructions to the jury. Finally, after what by then will probably be 16 weeks, the jury gets the trial. Lay has built his career on being in charge. These past days on the stand must have been terrifying and angering for him -- http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/lay_day_525_thats_a_wrap.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/lay_day_525_thats_a_wrap.html Dispatches Wed, 03 May 2006 07:42:11 -0500 There was a light moment in court this morning following a slip of the tongue by Kenneth L. Lay. During cross-examination, federal prosector John Hueston reminded Lay that his lead lawyer, Michael Ramsey, had publicly referred to former Enron treasurer -- and prosecution witness -- Benjamin Glisan as a "monkey." On redirect, Secrest had Lay clarify that Ramsey had more fully called Glisan a "trained monkey." "Did that make the slur any better?" Hueston asked. "I'm not trying to defend my monkey -- I mean, my attorney," Lay said, prompting sustained laughter in the courtroom and from Lay himself. "I'm sure glad Mr. Ramsey's not here today," Lay said. Ramsey, in fact, is recovering from two operations last month to install stents to open arterial blockage. Nothing to monkey around with, those. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/touch_my_monkey.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/enron/2006/05/touch_my_monkey.html Dispatches Tue, 02 May 2006 11:47:37 -0500