Enron jurors say pair's defence fell flat

HOUSTON - In the end, the jury just could not swallow the defence put forward by Enron's Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling.

The eight women and four men rendered their verdict after less than six days of deliberations in federal court and found former Enron chief executives Lay and Skilling guilty of fraud and conspiracy in the demise of the energy company that was once the darling of Wall Street.

To get to that verdict, the jurors said they had disregard the testimony from the two defendants that they believed Enron was a healthy, vibrant company just months before its collapse.

"To say that you didn't know what was going on in your own company is not the right thing," juror Freddy Delgado told reporters.

The jury convicted Lay, 64, on all six counts of conspiracy and fraud and Skilling, 52, of 19 counts of conspiracy, fraud, insider trading and making false statements. Lay faces a maximum prison term of 45 years and Skilling a maximum of 185 years.

Lay and Skilling both strongly declared their innocence on the witness stand, but jurors said both men had only undermined their own cases.

Lay, long known as an amiable, folksy executive, came across as controlling and defensive, and at times appeared to have a "chip on his shoulder," one member of the panel said.

"I think that really made me question his character," juror Wendy Vaughn said.

For his part, Skilling proved very adept at explaining complicated financial issues and could recite intimate details of Enron deals, jurors said. But he often claimed he had no memory of damning conversations that prosecution witnesses recounted in court.

Defence lawyers had tried hard to undermine eight former Enron executives who testified for the government, arguing they had lied at the trial to obtain their plea agreements that will secure them little or no prison time.

But that defence tactic failed, with the possible exception of some of the testimony of Andrew Fastow, Enron's former chief financial officer. Fastow admitted he skimmed tens of millions of dollars from side deals that hid Enron's financial problems and will serve a 10-year sentence under a plea deal with prosecutors.

The witness' testimony "all pointed in the same direction," said juror Don Martin.

"Fastow was Fastow. We knew where he was coming from. We kind of discounted some of it," he said.

Despite their verdict, the jurors commended the defence lawyers, especially Skilling's lead lawyer Dan Petrocelli.

"If I ever had to be a defendant, I would go with Mr Petrocelli," Delgado said. "If I had the money."

- REUTERS