Not The Smartest Guy In The Room...
today.A very funny and likeable Ken Lay takes the stand - Day One
"He cast himself as a hard worker who enjoyed great financial success, only to find himself somewhere he never thought he would be — on trial in a federal courtroom. He was asked by lawyer George Secrest what it had been like to watch the trial unfold.
"It's been very interesting," Lay answered. "We've seen a lot of interesting testimony. We've seen a lot of interesting people, a lot of allegations, a lot of lies, a lot of misinformation and some truth."
Lay aimed to build on what Skilling spent the last two weeks telling jurors: Enron was no bed of fraud and the pair did nothing wrong."
Ken, you crack me up! Now will you tell us the really funny stories, especially the ones about the phony trading floor, Grandma Millie and the "HFV" accounting? That "Hypothetical Future Value" skit still makes me chuckle! ;)
"He cast himself as a hard worker who enjoyed great financial success, only to find himself somewhere he never thought he would be — on trial in a federal courtroom. He was asked by lawyer George Secrest what it had been like to watch the trial unfold.
"It's been very interesting," Lay answered. "We've seen a lot of interesting testimony. We've seen a lot of interesting people, a lot of allegations, a lot of lies, a lot of misinformation and some truth."
Lay aimed to build on what Skilling spent the last two weeks telling jurors: Enron was no bed of fraud and the pair did nothing wrong."
Ken, you crack me up! Now will you tell us the really funny stories, especially the ones about the phony trading floor, Grandma Millie and the "HFV" accounting? That "Hypothetical Future Value" skit still makes me chuckle! ;)
Labels: Enron
posted by Patrick J. Fitzgerald at 4/24/2006
10 Comments:
Ken Lay and George Bush are telling the same tales..just different circumtances...
One runs a nation on running for office throught the whole administration,,and he doesn't know anything about what has happened..
the other runs a company that he knew nothing about..
Bet they were both in the smae class together
DENY AND LIE 101
When your guilty you go with anything you can. Now Ken Lay is telling a story that most investers, workers and Texas know is a lie. Why oh why didn't he take the plea agreement. But I guess since Bush has fooled the public these guys think they can too. Lay has layed the picture of an honest/hurt man. Who hasn't in this group. Wait for Sean to get the *Voltamort out of him. * Voltamort is the evil one in Harry Potter. Now back to Sean he will peel away the lies as I peel an orange (thick skin). I think this show will be better then the Skilling show. Ken Lay is a wimp watch him fall apart maybe even cry for the camera.
SP Biloxi calls it the Gilligan Defense.
Who knows? Theoretically, a coconut falling on one's head could lead to short and long term memory loss.
You run a company, make the big bucks, and have no idea what's going on? Remind me why we pay CEO's. To hear some of them explain it, their entire job seems to be to smile at stockholder's meetings.
A hard worker? If so, you'd think he'd bother to read his own balance sheet. So, Ken Lay, the stupid - okay, Gilligan - defense isn't really a good one, or did your lawyer figure that's the one to which he could bill the most hours, since you'll be convicted and he'll earn even more on the appeal?
Now that really is stupid. Even Gilligan could work that one out.
Ken's head lawyer is still in the hospital where Sean Berkowitz put him with "broken heart disease."
Hello, everyone!
My apologies! It just been a very busy day for me. I haven't even checked my email yet. I decided to junp on the blog first. Yup, Lay is using the Gillgan's defense. He never committed fraud yet he pulled his money out from the stock market and yet told his buddies like Cheney, the Gerbil and family, etc. to do the same. I will go on WSJ and see what Peter Lattman has to say....
When Ken Lay tried to joke about his age on the stand, the jurors didn't think he was so funny and likeable.
Hoping they don't fall for his crap and find this piece of shit guilty.
Folks,
I finally caught up on Lying Lay's testimony> I received an email from Peter Latterman's editor Ashby Jones. she sent me two links of the events of the Enron case:
Events in the Enron Case
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113578577739433046.html
The Evidence Against
Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling
By ASHBY JONES
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114441609891020011.html
Here is the update of the Lying Lay's trial. The lawblog had some interesting aspect of the Lay's testimony:
April 24, 2006, 1:26 pm
The Rambling Uncle
Posted by Peter Lattman
Sadly, the Law Blog finds Lay’s presentation a bit dull. Things will surely heat up on cross, but “meandering” is how we’d best describe it. Whereas watching Skilling was like watching a CEO deliver a presentation to his board of directors, listening to Lay is like sitting out on the front porch next to an uncle rambling on about his past. And where Skilling’s lawyer Daniel Petrocelli had a commanding presence in the courtroom and a knowing sense of direction during Skilling’s direct examination, Secrest’s questions were occasionally poorly worded and his folksy Texas manner has, so far, come off as mostly listless.
That said, maybe with Lay that’s exactly the point. Lay’s not out to portray himself as one of the smartest guys in the room. Rather, Lay was Enron’s chairman, a diplomatic sort who cavorted with presidents and CEOs while Skilling and others focused on the details. Thus, when he replaced Skilling as chief executive in August 2001, his argument goes, he didn’t have knowledge about the extent of the problems with the Fastow-controlled partnerships that led to the company’s downfall.
So for most of the morning — his lawyer Mac Secret posted the first exhibit showing any financials right before the lunch break — Lay delivered the direct testimony equivalent of a filibuster. He just didn’t say all that much. Here are a few highlights:
• The son of a Baptist preacher hasn’t been afraid to invoke religion, referencing God, and his giving to local churches. When asked he has was part of a conspiracy, he called that “the most ludicrous thing in that indictment” and it was “the last thing he would think of doing … according to my religious faith.”
• Lay seems to have a tendency to use strings of synonyms to describe things. His time at CEO, said Lay, was “very exciting,” “very fun,” “very fulfilling,” and “very rewarding.” And in discussing the Fastow-controlled LJM partnerships, he said people were “scrubbing it,” “controlling it,” and that it was “supervised,” “overseen,” and “reviewed.” “It wasn’t created in some secret corner somewhere,” said Lay.
• Have you achieved the American dream, asked Secrest. “I achieved the American dream,” said Lay. But in the past couple of years, “I’ve also achieved the American nightmare.”
In other words, Lay put them to sleep. And notice when the crooks get caught, they use "God." Amazing!
Final posting. More on Enron from the afternoon:
The Elephant in the (Court)Room
Posted by Peter Lattman
HOUSTON — As the Law Blog mentioned earlier today, Ken Lay’s wife Linda and Jeff Skilling’s wife Rebecca swapped seats for Lay’s testimony, with Ms. Skilling now seated in the far left corner of the gallery and Ms. Lay directly in the sight-line of the witness box.
But this afternoon Ms. Skilling, who had been stoic for Lay’s morning ramble, caught the Law Blog’s attention. And it wasn’t only because of the stunning white mid-length jacket she’s wearing to court today (think really expensive-looking doctor’s coat).
At one point, Secrest asked Lay about the July 13, 2001, meeting in which Mr. Skilling announced his decision to step down as CEO of Enron. It’s a crucial bit of testimony: Skilling says he left because of personal and family issues, but the government is trying to prove that there were lots of other reasons (e.g., Enron’s impending implosion).
It was obviously a crucial bit of testimony for Ms. Skilling as well. When Lay testified that Mr. Skilling had told him “I’ve got some family issues right now,” Ms. Skilling suddenly grew visibly tense, mumbling to herself, taking big gulps from her water bottle and shifting about on the incredibly uncomfortable courtroom benches. She reminded the Law Blog of his three-year-old daughter reacting to a scary part of her Saturday morning cartoon. The questioning was clearly agonizing for Ms. Skilling.
Throughout the testimony there have been allusions to a personal issue involving one of Skilling’s children being the reason he resigned from the company. But nowhere — not in any of the thousands of pages of books, reports and articles on the Enron scandal — have these personal issues ever been drawn out. While an obvious elephant in the room, it’s also one that’s off limits, a subject too personal for even probing prosecutors to broach.
The Law Blog introduced himself to Ms. Skilling on break. When we told her how concerned we thought she looked, she said “that’s fair.” She explained that she, like everyone else it seems, wants to respect her husband’s wishes about keeping the details of his family situation back in 2001 private. The reason Ms. Skilling was so agitated? “I was nervous Ken was gonna go further” than her husband had wanted, she said.
So the question — “Mr. Skilling, what were the personal issues involving your child?” — remains unasked and unanswered.
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