HOUSTON – The judge is getting nastier by the day. At least one juror has been caught napping in her seat while the others regularly fidget and whisper to each other.
And what should have been the Trial of the Century has turned into the Trial That’s Taking A Century.
That’s the mood (my mood, but I’m sure it’s shared by others) that prosecutors needed to overcome yesterday as they started their hostile cross-examination of former Enron Chairman Ken Lay.
Wake us up! Make him cry! Filet Lay!
When prosecutor John Hueston got his turn late yesterday to question Lay in cross-examination, he revved it up, accusing the defendant of trying to contact witnesses.
“You were trying to recruit people to say what you wanted them to say,” Hueston said, calling it Lay’s “story.”
“I don’t have a story. I have my recollection of the facts,” Lay countered, a little off his stride.
Way to go! Finally, emotion!
Judge Sim Lake started to crack down on Tuesday when lawyers suggested this tedium (also known as a trial) would have to run another two weeks.
Lay will probably be cross-examined well into next week.
If the jury takes as long as I think it will, there won’t be a verdict (or more likely a hung jury) until well after Memorial Day.
Yesterday the judge apologized to the jury and said he wanted to conclude the evidence part of the trial by May 11. He had hoped to finish next week.
Lake asked that the jury decide on the lesser of evils – start earlier, work later or hold court on Friday, even though the judge said he realized the jurors might have to report to work one day a week to keep their jobs.
Lay, of course, has lost his.
But toward the end of direct examination by his lawyer George “Mac” Secrest, Lay said he made $223 million over three years in the early 2000s, but “only” $36 million of that was in cash.
He spent $23 million on living expenses.
The former Enron chairman said he was paid only in the 75th percentile of comparable executives and explained that taxes and such ate into his considerable haul.
The jurors, especially those who are just trying to keep their jobs as the case drags on, were probably immensely sympathetic, but no one was seen going for a hanky.
Lay, of course, isn’t rich anymore. Eight percent of his wealth was in Enron stock that’s now worthless.
And he has sold at least six houses – three in the Gulf town of Galveston, Texas, and three in Aspen, Colo.
He drives a ’93 Mercedes; his wife, a 1999 model “because she deserves” the newer car.
The Lays used to entertain a lot, eat at great restaurants, drink fine wine and enjoy life.
The same is true, of course, for a lot of the innocent Enron investors who are now drinking Muscatel and dining out on McDonald’s Dollar Menu.
(p. 42 in metro)