And Just To Pile On, Ken Lay Gets Bad News

Aug. 24, 2005, 12:06AM
Judge rejects

request by Lay

Sources sought about information given grand jury
By JOHN C. ROPER
Link Here


A judge has denied a request by former Enron Chairman Ken Lay for prosecutors to reveal the sources of certain information provided to the grand jury during an investigation related to the case.

At issue are unindicted co-conspirators. Under rules followed by the Justice Department, those names are withheld from indictments so as not to compromise ongoing investigations.

In the case against Lay and former executives Jeff Skilling and Rick Causey, the government has said there are 114 unindicted co-conspirators.

Lay's defense attorneys had requested the Enron Task Force disclose who among the co-conspirators said what during the grand jury investigation into Enron's collapse.

His attorneys argue that tying a name to an allegation will help them defend the charges.

While some of these co-conspirators are expected to be named as witnesses by the government, defense attorneys argued they should have access to them — as well as those who will not testify — now.

U.S. District Court Judge Sim Lake on Tuesday denied the request to reveal information related to the co-conspirators. He provided no explanation.

Both prosecuting and defense attorneys declined comment.

Defense attorneys in this case have also maintained having such a long list of co-conspirators provides a tactical advantage to the government. They say that if someone is on the list, that person will be less likely to cooperate with Lay, Skilling or Causey out of fear that the government will treat him or her more harshly.

john.roper@chron.com

--Ohhhh Ahhhhh Why does 'Kenny Boy' cause georgie to have such a kneejerk reaction...???--