Lay's death could set Skilling free

[kurth]

Lay's death could set Skilling free
Lawyers likely to argue that entire case has effectively been voided
BARRIE MCKENNA

WASHINGTON -- Kenneth Lay's sudden death could prove to be an unexpected legal bequest to Jeffrey Skilling, his co-defendant in the landmark Enron Corp. fraud case. Mr. Skilling's legal team will almost certainly invoke Mr. Lay's demise to try to reverse his own fraud and conspiracy conviction or demand a retrial, legal experts said yesterday.

That's because Mr. Lay's death Wednesday of an apparent heart attack effectively voids the entire case against the Enron founder, including the guilty verdict. Mr. Skilling, the former Enron chief executive officer who is appealing his own conviction, could now argue that much of the evidence against him stems from a case that no longer exists, argued lawyer Jacob Frenkel, a former federal prosecutor and white collar crime specialist...

Federal prosecutors may be stymied in their bid to seize Mr. Lay's assets. A recent appeals court ruling in the U.S. Fifth Circuit, where Mr. Skilling and Mr. Lay were tried, determined that when a defendant dies before he has exhausted all his appeals "everything associated with the case is extinguished, leaving the defendant as if he had never been indicted or convicted."

And in another bizarre twist, Mr. Lay's death is likely to shield his wife, Linda, and the couple's children from a federal forfeiture of his assets. The U.S. Justice Department's Enron Taskforce filed a motion last week asking U.S. District Court Judge Sim Lake to force Mr. Lay to pay $43.5 million and Mr. Skilling to pay $139.3 million...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060707.IBENRON07/TPStory/Business

[smtpgirl]

1. Both of them were convicted, whether they went to a sentence hearing

or not, DO THE RIGHT THING.

If that happened to me, I would have my grandchildren paying for this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But I guess not, they were friends of Bush

So this uncovers, if you have money and you were convicted of a crime, you do not have any restitution to pay FOR ANYONE, DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess I should make $43 bil and kill somome, then I can go to Aruba
YEAH

[MADem]

2. Well, ain't that a huge shit on the wheels of justice NT

[Straight Shooter]

3. "The evil that men do lives after them ...

... the good is oft interred with their bones."

Not that Lay did much good in this world, but his evil certainly lives on. Let's hope there is justice on his current plane of existence.

[smtpgirl]

5. For someone that had a PhD,

This guy is such a dumbass!!

That is what they WANT US TO BELIEVE

[Sgent]

4. Its the governments fault

they are the ones that opposed splitting the trial. Now they get to reap the rewards of the same.

[dsc]

6. I find it hard to believe that the death would be able to stop asset

forfeiture. Asset forfeiture doesn't require a conviction. Literally hundreds of people have had cash and cars taken in drug investigations and despite no charges being filed haven't gotten the money back. As for Skilling he may need retried, if so, then retry him.

[BeyondThePale]

7. excuse me while I vomit

Figures, a scumbag like Skilling will seek to profit on his partner's death

[SensibleAmerican]

8. This is an interesting legal question

Hopefully, some criminal lawyers in the federal arena can opine.

[lildreamer316]

9. Well f@#$ me.

Wish I could say I was suprised.

[FormerOstrich]

10. Is there any basis for an appeal???

These aren't death penalty cases which have an automatic appeal. Is there something that means they would have won an appeal to start with? It seems to me they were convicted. Period. Was there something that give them the right to an appeal?

[kurth]

11. Every trial defendant has an absolute right to appeal

all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if their bank account is large enough. It's amazing what a well-motivated attorney can come up with.