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Ken Lay 's Turn on the Witness Stand

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Sun Apr 23, 2006 at 11:18:56 PM EST
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Update: CBS has a recap of this morning's testimony.

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It's Ken Lay's turn on the witness stand today as the Enron trial winds down. His defense will be he's an optimist, not a crook.

He will try to convince jurors that what prosecutors call fraud was really the misdirected power of positive thinking.

...Lay insists that he refused to dwell on problems and focused instead on good news in an honest belief that he could right the ship when it listed in late 2001. That, Lay's defense lawyers argue, is not enough to send a man to prison for what could be the rest of his life.

Where does this optimism come from?

The son of a poor, itinerant preacher, he won a scholarship to the University of Missouri, made influential friends, earned a doctorate in economics and even did a tour in Washington as an Energy Department official. During Enron's waning years, he earned $220 million.

So, just a nice guy with his head in the sand? Not according to his critics, who point out "...disclosures that he quietly unloaded $70 million worth of Enron shares to pay personal loans at the same time he urged others to buy."

His codefendant Jeff Skilling spent the last eight days on the witness stand.

The Government presented no smoking gun against either Lay or Skilling. Ultimately, it will be a credibility call for the jury.

The government's case is heavy on witness testimony, with some 22 people taking the stand against Skilling and Lay, but light on documents. With no one piece of paper clearly linking the men to a crime, it's the words spoken on the stand -- and the credibility of the people behind them -- that will make or break the case.

Lawyers rate Skilling's testimony here. If you want to keep up with Lay's testimony during the day, check out the Houston Chronicle Enron blog which has commentary from lawyers inside the courtroom.

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    Ken Lay 's Turn on the Witness Stand | 4 comments (4 topical)
    Re: Ken Lay 's Turn on the Witness Stand (none / 0) (#1)
    by Repack Rider on Sun Apr 23, 2006 at 10:25:39 PM EST
    If I made hundreds of millions of dollars by screwing the pooch, I would be an optimist too. (See also: Bush, George W.)

    Re: Ken Lay 's Turn on the Witness Stand (none / 0) (#2)
    by scarshapedstar on Sun Apr 23, 2006 at 11:24:39 PM EST
    I suppose it's easy to be optimistic when all you ever see is glowing news coverage of your company from the media that's in on the scam.

    Re: Ken Lay 's Turn on the Witness Stand (none / 0) (#3)
    by cpinva on Sun Apr 23, 2006 at 11:25:54 PM EST
    Where does this optimism come from?
    disclosures that he quietly unloaded $70 million worth of Enron shares to pay personal loans at the same time he urged others to buy."
    i think the question kind of answers itself. i was impressed with dr. lay's stock strategy: buy low, sell before everyone else realizes it's gone even lower. i kind of vaguely recall something about this in "managerial econ".

    Re: Ken Lay 's Turn on the Witness Stand (none / 0) (#4)
    by Richard Aubrey on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 07:17:20 AM EST
    I'd like to get the senior business reporters in Houston into a room and blow sodium pentothal in through the air conditioning vents. What did they know? When did they know it? If they didn't know it, why don't they leave the business on account of terminal incompetence? Can there be a forensic accounting look into their financial affairs?

    Ken Lay 's Turn on the Witness Stand | 4 comments (4 topical)