[mgstarr]

It will not void the conviction, much as his lawyers would like to argue.

Lay was guilty, Skilling was guilty. There was enough in the financial transactions to convict, but that isn't as easy to demonstrate to non-finance types. Been there personally with another bunch of guilty folks.

Then again, most AUSA's aren't the best and brightest.

[rocksblues]

This is ridiculous you are judged guilty but die before being sentenced you are now not guilty.

You get judged guilty and are sentenced and the prosecutor will use every trick in the book to throw out legitimate evidence of a wrongful conviction.

[Izzy Dunne]

Mr. Lay's death Wednesday of an apparent heart attack effectively voids the entire case against the Enron founder

I have no idea why this would be so.

[plain talk]

This is a garbage opinion worthy of twisted liberal lawyer logic. Makes no sense. Each was convicted.

[JimSEA]

when a defendant dies before he has exhausted all his appeals "everything associated with the case is extinguished, leaving the defendant as if he had never been indicted or convicted."

Legal mumbo-jumbo. This sort of thing, IMO, actually moves us farther from a nation under the "rule of law" and closer to a corrupt nation in the clutches of high prices lawyers and like minded judges.

[TexasTransplant]

Set him Free!

But first gather all of the "Screwed" Stock Holders, Employees and Retired... and set him loose in the middle of that mass, if he escapes with his life, he can keep running forever, if not, well (in the words of the Great One), Clinton Happens.

TT

[OldFriend]

Too bad Fastow got off so easily. His wife should be rotting in jail too.

[Caramelgal]

I am not a lawyer (but I did stay a at Holiday Inn Express – just kidding).

Seriously – where Lay and Skilling tried together or separately? If separately then I would think Skilling has less chance of getting his conviction overturned since his trial stood on it’s own merits unless his conviction was based soley on Lay’s testimony.

Even if they were tried together, I would think Skilling at best could have grounds for a retrial but people with a better understanding of the law will I’m sure correct me and shed more light.

In any case I hope they both get what they deserve, either in this live or in another…..

[Clintonfatigued]

This looks like nothing more than an empty ploy. If anything, Jeffrey Skilling was more guilty than Kenneth Lay was.

[ExpatCanuck]

What a load of CRAP. Applying the same logic, if a murderer is found guilty and the witness against him dies after the fact, does that mean the conviction should be overturned???

[theDentist]

That's because Mr. Lay's death Wednesday of an apparent heart attack effectively voids the entire case against the Enron founder, including the guilty verdict...

That Karl Rove is so brilliant.... twisting justice on it's ear before the Dems can make hay of Lay's sentencing... /sarc

[Ben Chad]

A high-ranking republican said yesterday that Lay was a good guy.