The Chronicle’s Mary Flood, back from a well-deserved vacation, is again writing on Enron matters and, in this article, notes that the Fifth Circuit has asked the attorneys involved in the Arthur Andersen criminal case to advise the Court on whether the case should be remanded to District Court for re-trial or simply dismissed altogether after the Supreme Court’s decisive opinion overturning the firm’s conviction. Using prediction skills that have become well-honed from dealing with the Enron Task Force over the past several years, Ms. Flood speculates that the Task Force will request that the Fifth Circuit remand the case to the District Court for a new trial.
Other than providing an annuity for Andersen defense attorney Rusty Hardin, what possible benefit could be derived from a re-trial of a dead accounting firm? The fact that such a re-trial is even being considered reflects that the misguided criminal investigation into Enron has officially gone from being merely abusive and desperate to truly absurd.