Let Me Get This “Breaking News” Straight
From a banner on the Fox Buzztracker:
Breaking News >> Judge Tosses Conviction of Late Enron Founder Ken Lay Citing His Death
So, he’s only a crook as long as he’s alive?
Nobody’s got anything else yet. All Wesley all the time so far.
UPDATE: Got it.
A federal judge Tuesday vacated the conviction of Enron founder Kenneth Lay who died in July, wiping out a jury’s verdict that he committed fraud and conspiracy in the months before his company’s collapse.
Lay was convicted of 10 counts of fraud, conspiracy and lying to banks in two separate cases on May 25. Enron’s collapse in 2001 wiped out thousands of jobs, more than $60 billion in market value and more than $2 billion in pension plans.
Because he wasn’t alive to contest the verdicts. Sheesh. It’s been a good week…
…for toads in general.
Morality | tree hugging sister | 
October 17, 2006 4:20 pm
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From the limited details in the article, it sounds like the court got the law right, which means the law should be changed. Unfortunately, however, even if Congress were ultimately to do so, it wouldn’t affect Lay’s estate with respect to this criminal case, because that would be unconstitutional ex post facto punishment.
The government could appeal this to the Fifth Circuit and ask them to reconsider their precedent (which the trial court was bound to apply), and then appeal that to the Supreme Court if it was rejected, but from the article I really can’t tell if the government even made sufficient arguments to preserve the issues for appeal.
Civil penalties, Dave ~ can the Enron employees/shareholders go after what’s left of his estate?
Yes, but they have to get in line with all the estate’s other creditors.