Posted on 05/25/2006 8:19:59 AM PDT by COEXERJ145
Breaking on CNN.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
But I always found it funny when the employees would complain that the company should have told them the bad news when the stock was still high so they could sell it all before it crashed.
They didn't seem to care that their sale would just stick somebody ELSE with the loss. So long as they got THEIR money.
And home of most of the people who lost their jobs and their retirement savings in the same month in 2000.
I think every Houstonian must know at least one person impacted by Enron's crimes.
In this day and age, and with the cost of changes of venue, more and more aren't asking for one and more are not being given, because of the omnipresence of instantaneous news media.
There is very little "local" news coverage any more, so high profile cases can't use it as an excuse or reason - there is no place *else* they can move the trial to.
Sorry...I meant 2002.
That's not a fair criticism. They tried desperately to get the trial moved, but were denied.
They had to surrender their original bond - just figured that out. Each was out on $5 million, which they just surrendered, due to the guilty verdicts.
I wish those houses could be sold and the money distributed to the former employees who had their retirement plans wiped out.
Good find. I just copied that around to my buds for when (not "if) the media begins spouting about Lay's relationships with the current White House...
2002 was just a rotten year for Houston overall.
BTW, the judge picked that date on purpose!
Okay, well then the second biggest error was what they did.
One of the jurors right now is saying she knew absolutely nothing about the case or Enron, at all. Knew no one who worked there or lost money with them.
She must be new to town. LOL
We're still waiting for Kenlay to come out and perhaps talk to the media. *Assuming* he won't be all bouncy and happy like he has been for 4 months.
Mike Ramsey, Lay's chief lawyer, came and went without comment. He is heartsick. He doesn't lose often. Everyone is feeling sorry for him because he had a heart procedure during the trial and missed being the one to question Lay for the defense. (Can we say "appeal material" - because trial didn't recess for Ramsey's absence? Sounds like it's being set up for that.)
FWIW, the jurors are saying how sorry they feel for the families of the perps. One former "E" employee from the large group that had convened for the verdict said she knew those families are all being taken care of, financially - but she and her family are struggling.
sw
I think their biggest error was allowing both Skilling and Lay to testify.
Both lost their cool on the stand.
It was a calculated move, I suppose. The defense probably thought they were going to lose and perhaps a stellar performance on the stand could save their bacon.
Both defendants actually did pretty well under direct examination by the defense at first. But neither one could stand up to cross-examination by the prosecution. They came across as bitter jerks, not something the jury could show much sympathy for.
The fact of the matter is that neither defendant had much chance of securing a not guilty verdict. Houston juries tend to be extremely tough, and this city was hurt deeply by the Enron collapse. Lay's and Skilling's only hope was a change of venue to a place where they could get an OJ jury. When that motion was denied, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that both would serve hard time.
Ken Lay is 64 years old. His prison sentence has a strong possibility of being a life sentence in practical terms. Skilling is much younger, but he'll be released as an old man. Together they spent over $38 million in their joint defense. To say they are ruined is an understatement.
What a disgrace how they protected him.
Don't know who all that is. Only a few *knew* it *could* happen. Not even Sherron Watkins actually thought it *would* happen the way it did.
How Enron Worked the President ... (This is an interesting bit of
information that you don't hear much about.)
A. Enron's chairman did meet with the president and the vice president
in the Oval Office.
B.. Enron gave $420,000 to the president's party over three years.
C.. It donated $100,000 to the president's inauguration festivities.
D.. The Enron chairman stayed at the White House 11 times.
E.. The corporation had access to the administration at its highest
level and even enlisted the Commerce and State Departments to grease deals
for it.
F.. The taxpayer-supported Export-Import Bank subsidized Enron for
more than $600 million in just one transaction
Scandalous!!
(look below ....... )
G.. BUT...the president under whom all this happened WASN'T George W.
Bush.
SURPRISE It was Bill Clinton!
Pass this on so the whole Country will know. The Media Won't!
ARE WE READY FOR MRS. CLINTON ??
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