In an astounding move in a case of nearly unprecedented negative publicity, Ex-Enron Chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay requested U.S. District Judge Sim Lake today to grant a speedy trial — even possibly waving a jury trial to get it — in pleadings filed today in his pending criminal case in Houston.
Mr. Lay, who is presently facing 11 criminal charges in the same case as former Enron CEO and COO Jeffrey Skilling and ex-chief accountant Richard Causey, requested that Judge Lake sever Mr. Lay’s case from that of Messrs. Skilling and Causey, and commence the trial of Lay in mid-September, just a month away.
Mike Ramsey — Mr. Lay’s criminal counsel — estimated that the 11 criminal counts against Mr. Lay can be tried in three weeks to Judge Lake and about eight weeks if a jury hears it. In addressing the media at Houston’s federal courthouse while filing pleadings on behalf of Mr. Lay today, Mr. Ramsey chided the Enron Task Force prosecutorial team for allegedly politicizing Mr. Lay’s criminal case in inflammatory prosecutorial press conferences.
Mr. Lay’s request for a speedy trial is a high risk strategy, but there are few alternatives in defending an Enron-related case that are not high-risk because of the noteriety of the Enron. The big fringe benefit of a quick trial to Mr. Lay is the severance of his case from that of Messrs. Skilling and Causey, who Mr. Lay will likely portray as being in control of the day-to-day affairs of Enron.
Also in pleadings filed today, the Enron Task Force noted that Lay has set aside $15 million to a legal defense fund, which Mr. Ramsey contended is not accurate because of the illiquid nature of a large portion of the assets transferred into the fund. Even with that hefty war chest, Mr. Lay is still running second to Mr. Skilling, who socked away $23 million of cold, hard cash in his legal defense fund.
The Enron Task Force is opposing Mr. Lay’s request for a September trail date, but has proposed a fairly quick schedule that includes a March 2005 trial date. As one would expect, the Task Force prefers to try all there defendants together.
Judge Lake has scheduled a Wednesday hearing to discuss a trial date for the Mr. Lay’s case.
Somewhat overshadowed in today’s developments is the fact that, more than two and a half years after Enron collapsed into bankruptcy, the first criminal trial involving former Enron executives is currently scheduled to begin in Houston next Monday before U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein in the case known as “The Nigerian Barge case.”