Supreme Court & brother of WGNs Tom Skilling

Subject:

Comments:
: October 13, 2009 : WASHINGTON--� The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will take up former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling�s appeal of his convictions for his role in the collapse of the energy giant, : accepting another high-profile challenge to a favorite tool of prosecutors in white-collar and public corruption cases. : Skilling�s appeal stems from his convictions in 2006 on 19 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors involving the 2001 collapse of : Enron. : The justices already are entertaining similar claims from former newspaper magnate Conrad Black and a former Alaska lawmaker ensnared in a public corruption scandal. : At issue in all three cases is prosecutors� use of the federal �honest services� fraud statute, a 28-word law that critics call vague and unfair. Among the federal charges : against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is an �honest services� count, while his predecessor, former Gov. George Ryan was convicted of it. : The law makes it a crime to deprive shareholders or the public of �the intangible right to honest services.� : Former federal prosecutor Peter Zeidenberg said the court probably will rein in the use of the law. �The betting is it�s going to get a bit of a haircut,� said Zeidenberg, : who prosecuted some public officials for honest services fraud. : Zeidenberg, now a partner at the DLA Piper law firm in Washington, acknowledged that it is easier to prove honest services fraud than bribery, which typically requires : demonstration that some promise was made or action was taken in exchange for money. : �I think a lot of defense attorneys would say it�s a refuge for prosecutions that otherwise don�t measure up,� he said. : Skilling, serving a 24-year prison term, says he was improperly convicted. He says prosecutors did not show that he personally benefited from his allegedly fraudulent : actions. Federal courts are split over whether prosecutors must prove a defendant�s private gain to convict under the law. : Black, the former chairman and chief executive of the Hollinger International media company, is arguing a different point. He says the $5.5 million that he and other : executives received from a Hollinger subsidiary was money that they were owed. They can�t be convicted of fraud, Black says, when they did no harm to the company. : Skilling also is claiming that he did not receive a fair trial in Houston following Enron�s collapse, describing �blistering daily attacks� in the media. �Skilling was : pronounced guilty throughout Houston long before trial,� his lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, said in his court filing. : A ruling in his favor on the fair trial claim probably would result in a new trial. The effect of the ruling on honest services is unclear since Skilling was convicted on : other charges as well, including securities fraud. : �We are so relieved,� Petrocelli told The Associated Press Tuesday �We�ve been waiting almost three years now since Jeff was convicted. You know, the stain of the Enron : story has been hard to overcome. And the Supreme Court has decided it�s going to give us a full, frank and fair hearing.� : Petrocelli said Skilling�s legal team spoke with the former Enron CEO Tuesday. �He�s in tears, as many of us are. We cannot wait to go before the Supreme Court and argue our : case,� he said. : No date has been set for the argument, but it will be held early in 2010. : In January, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld the convictions, but ordered Skilling�s prison term reduced. : Skilling is the highest-ranking executive to be punished for the accounting tricks and shady business deals that led to the loss of thousands of jobs, more than $60 billion : in Enron stock value and more than $2 billion in employee pension plans after the company imploded in 2001. : Company founder Kenneth Lay also was convicted of conspiracy, fraud and other charges, but his convictions were vacated after he died less than two months later of heart : disease. : In 2005, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Arthur Andersen LLP, Enron�s auditor, on charges of destroying Enron-related documents. : In June, the justices sided with former Enron executive F. Scott Yeager in a ruling that makes it unlikely he can be tried a second time on charges related to the company�s : collapse.

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:

Enter verification code: