Causey's plea wrecks havoc for Lay, Skilling

[Judi Lynn]

Dec. 29, 2005, 2:02AM
Causey's plea wrecks havoc for Lay, Skilling
Attorneys for Enron's Skilling and Lay get two additional weeks to regroup defense


By JOHN C. ROPER, TOM FOWLER and PURVA PATEL
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

After Enron's former top accountant entered a guilty plea Wednesday, Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling were granted an extra two weeks to prepare for trial, but legal analysts suggested more time may not be enough to offset the potential damage.

"It's a serious blow to the defense," said Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. attorney in Miami.

Richard Causey, who reported directly to Skilling, can help guide prosecutors through Enron's books and the intricate business dealings that contributed to its collapse.

And his switch in sides likely means the prosecution will be able to present a less complex case to jurors.
(snip/...)

http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3553372.html
(Free registration required)

[Greeby]

1. Enrontastic!

Well, you knew someone was gonna say it :P

[JohnnyRingo]

2. He has police protection, I hope

I see Lay and Skilling are petitioning for a postponement.

Time is not on Causey's side. If either CEO has $1m left there may be one less witness.

[Richard Steele]

7. I thought the same thing.

Both of the CEOs have MANY millions at stake,
let alone the years in prison they face.

And we have already seen a major player in this case
conveniently commit suicide.
A suspiciously ODD "suicide", IMO.

I really hope this guy has 24/7 professional protection.

[Hekate]

3. I long to see them stripped of their property & marched off to prison

They should be left with as much personal wealth as the people they robbed and ruined.

Hekate

[Bridget Burke]

4. CAUSEY'S PLEA WREAKS "HAVOC" (Chronicle Headline today)

In BIG type!

Edited to add another snip:

Like former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow, who agreed to cooperate with the government in 2004, Causey has intimate knowledge of the company, particularly in its last days before it filed for bankruptcy.

Causey, though, never engaged in side deals to profit personally, as Fastow has admitted to.

"When you have two highly placed cooperators, it eases the prosecution's burden substantially," Coffey said. "At the same time, when you're faced with officers who are trying a hear-no-evil, see-no-evil defense, your corroborator is bolstered because the hear-no-evil see-no-evil defense just doesn't strike jurors as common sense."

And for defendants, "the toughest witness in the world is the insider who turns," said David Berg, a Houston trial lawyer. "He has access to records and can explain things the government never understood and can provide a road map to conviction."

[librechik]

11. thanks for correcting the verb to wreaks

it was wreaking havoc on my English Major soul, (and I'm not in the grammar police)

[Bridget Burke]

13. Well, the case is beginning to look like a train-WRECK for the Defense.

And Enron has been REEKING for a long time.

(Isn't the English language wonderful?)

[Roland99]

5. "Heckuva job, Kenny"

[seemslikeadream]

6. Careful Mr. Causey

Dead men tell no tales

R.I.P. Mr. Baxter
The Mysterious Death Of An Enron Exec


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/04/10/eveningnews/main505845.shtml

[No Exit]

8. I'm not sure it wreaks enough havoc to satisfy me.

I read that this Causey got 7 years. But if he testifies against Lay and Skilling, that is supposed to be reduced to 5 years. But the prosecutors aren't sure yet whether he'll offer testimony that is of value to them.

IMO, the difference of 2 years isn't enough.

[0007]

9. I heard some of this story yesterday. Who indeed thinks

junior's cronies are going to do any time? I certainly believe they'll walk and give up very little of their booty. After all Kenny Boy is close friends with the Bush family.

"For the defense, this is going to make it very difficult for Mr. Lay and Mr. Skilling to deny they had knowledge of the transactions with Fastow that took so much debt off the books of Enron," Berg said.

Sean Berkowitz, lead prosecutor for the Enron Task Force, told the judge the government's debriefing of Causey would start "in the near future."

That's from Judi Lynn's article in the Houston paper.

Now read this and puke.

Statements that Andrew Fastow, Enron's former chief financial officer, made in secret to aid his wife's criminal case were unsealed Wednesday and may benefit his ex-bosses.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner unsealed the two 2003 affidavits on the request of former Enron chieftains Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling and Rick Causey.

In one affidavit, Fastow talks about how he was not part of a tax charge conspiracy with his wife and said she honestly believed they were correctly characterizing payments from side deals as gifts.

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/12/09/build/business/58-enron.inc

Fastow steals 80 million and is finded about ten percent of what he stole?

[President Jesus]

10. Causey's campaign contributions

for the record: http://www.newsmeat.com/ceo_political_donations/Richard_Causey.php

Wow. Supported Our President™ in 2000.

[patcox2]

12. Isn't it "wreaks havoc?"

Texas literacy at its best.