As case begins, eyes are on appeal

[Judi Lynn]

Feb. 6, 2006, 3:47AM
THE ENRON TRIAL
As case begins, eyes are on appeal
Both sides have specialists who keep watch for legal mistakes

By MARY FLOOD
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Even before the current Enron trial began last week, both sides had brainy lawyers thinking about a possible appeal.

Stanley Schneider, one of the best-known Houston criminal appellate lawyers, said the most effective criminal trial lawyers here have bookish, law-loving appellate specialists sitting by their side.

"When you are in the middle of trying cases you don't think about the record, you think about the 'not guilty.' Focusing on those two words means you might not see what the appeals court needs if you lose," Schneider said.

In this Enron case, ex-chairman Ken Lay and ex-CEO Jeff Skilling already have begun looking toward an appeal, though they surely pray there is no need for one.

Before the trial began, Lay and Skilling asked a federal appellate court to move the case, arguing no Houston area jury can be fair. The lawyers knew there was a near-zero chance the appellate court would uproot the trial. But asking when they did could help them in a request for a new trial in an after-conviction appeal.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3638139.html

[0007]

1. Money buys life if you're in the O.J. and Theodore Kaczynski class.

Two murderers that are still living.

Will these crooks be walking the streets one day as free men? I think so!

[salin]

2. and spending their illegally gotten goods, no doubt