As expected, former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling and chief accountant Richard Causey filed motions with the U.S. District Court in Houston Friday requesting that their pending criminal case be severed for separate trials. Their motions mirrored a similar motion that their other co-defendant — former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay — filed earlier this month.
Frankly, all three defendants can make a good case that they should be tried separately. Mr. Lay has far fewer charges pending against him than either Messrs. Skilling and Causey. Indeed, four charges against Mr. Lay involve personal banking matters that do not even relate to Enron’s business. On the other hand, Messrs. Skilling and Causey are each accused of 35 or more counts of conspiracy, fraud and insider trading in a scheme to manipulate Enron’s earnings while getting rich personally.
In his motion, Mr. Skilling argues that the indictment against Mr. Causey and him “strains” to link Mr. Lay and him, and that the jury deciding Mr. Skilling’s fate should not be tainted by evidence introduced against Messrs. Lay and Causey. On the other hand, Mr. Causey — who is not nearly as well known as either Mr. Lay or Mr. Skilling — argues that the jury in his case should not be prejudiced by the noteriety of his better-known co-defendants who would be sitting next to him in a joint trial.
U.S. District Judge Sim Lake has not yet set a trial date for any of the cases against the three men. Mr. Lay has requested a trial as soon as possible. Enron Task Force prosecutors have requested March 2005 trial, while Messrs. Skilling and Causey have requested a March 2006 trial.