Lawyer: Lay Won't Be Indicted on Charges

[UpInArms]

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Business/ap20040621_1564.html

HOUSTON June 21, 2004 — Enron Corp. founder and former chairman Kenneth Lay will never be indicted on charges stemming from the company's collapse, despite recent speculation to the contrary, his lawyer said Monday.

"Ken Lay didn't do a crime," Michael Ramsey said. "I don't believe Ken Lay will be indicted at all, ever."

Still, Ramsey said published reports over the weekend that his client would be indicted within weeks prompted him to request an update from federal prosecutors. He hopes to meet with them this week or next week.

Officials with the Justice Department did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday afternoon.

<snip>

Sources told The Associated Press over the weekend that prosecutors are probably focusing on Lay's actions and statements when he took over as chief executive upon Jeffrey Skilling's abrupt resignation in August 2001. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity.

...more...

[Malva Zebrina]

1. Neither will Bush, Cheney, or the rest of the criminals we have in the

administration

It is pretty obvious that the law in American is only there to prosecute the little guy--no one of the landed gentry is ever prosecuted/ Literally, they get away with murder.


They get away with everything because of their wealth and because of their power in high places. They have learned that accumulating vast amounts of money gives them immunity because they have enough to bribe the government, either Democrat or Republican.

Sorry, it is just the way it is. and that is the reality.

[struggle4progress]

6. "Laws: we know what they are and what they are worth ....

They are spiderwebs for the rich and mighty, steel chains for the poor and weak, fishing nets in the hands of government."

-- Proudhon

[Zan_of_Texas]

16. dupe (see below for post)

[mom cat]

11. " If convicted, I will not serve"

a day behind bars: Kenny boy, Rummy, Dick head, Rice pudding, Ass-croft and the rest of the mob.

[Cyrano]

2. Torture isn't torture if Bush says it isn't. And crime is not crime if...

Bush says it isn't. Shrub can't afford to have "Kenny Boy" indicted because Lay knows where all the bodies are buried. He's been Bush's biggest contributer since his first run for governor of Texas, right on through the 2000 presidential campaign.

It's unlikely that Lay will be indicted for anything, however, if he is, and then if he's convicted of anything, I'll eat shit in Macy's window at Christmas time.

The laws that apply to us don't apply to the rich. Trite but true.

[Pachamama]

19. Oh Cyrano, I really hope you have to eat sh*t in Macy's Window at Xmas

...Not because I dislike like any of your postings or what you stand for, but because I really, really hope that Lay is indicted and convicted....

:freak:

[gatlingforme]

3. I think Lays lawyer spoke too soon especially when he has

not even received an update yet, lol

[markses]

4. Thi s isn't even news...it is a press release

Of course his own lawyer will say that he won't be indicted. That's his lawyer's fucking job. Whoever saw fit to print this as an isolated article is a hack of the worst stripe.

[BrotherBuzz]

5. Real headline should read...

Lawyer: Lay Won't Be Indicted on Charges Until After the November Elections...

[struggle4progress]

7. No. If indicted, it will be before the election, with a subsequent muddle

producing dropped charges after the election.

[BrotherBuzz]

8. Hmmm...

My take is that the 'powers that be' will be able to stall and keep the lid on this till after the elections. Afterwards, Lay, having served his purpose by not drawing attention to the Bush*/Lay/Enron connection during the election cycle, will be thrown to the lions. Hmmm, having him indicted now would be nice, but it pains me to to think that he could skate on this.

(Hey, what do I know? I'm just a working stiff!) :)

[struggle4progress]

10. I can't tell which of us is more cynical!

:evilgrin:

[BrotherBuzz]

12. Cynical is good.

;)

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

9. Pardon me?

"...his LAWYER said Monday."


I guess I should hire a lawyer to proclaim my innocence, too. I haven't done anything either.

[UpInArms]

15. didn't "proclaiming innocence" land Martha Stewart

in court?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

18. I think it's against the law.

Proclamation of innocence = Guilt.

Should I hire a lawyer to announce my guilt? :shrug:

[goforit]

13. But how will the PUBLIC try him?BWAWAWAWHAWBWABWA

roflmao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy Lay!!........You will hear from us for a long time!!!!!

[daleo]

14. Lay will be pardoned, when Bush gets kicked out

I think that's what this lawyer is getting at. They always speak in code.

[Zan_of_Texas]

17. Lay's local attorney is a bozo.

His time zone defense is hilarious.

Here's what he said nearly two years ago. (The link is probably old by now.)

Wednesday August 21, 2002 5:00 AM
http://in.news.yahoo.com/020821/137/1u465.html

Lay knew nothing about Enron deals, lawyer says


By Jeff Franks HOUSTON (Reuters) - Former Enron Corp. chairman Ken Lay presided over such a sprawling company that he knew nothing about illegal side deals that helped topple the energy giant, his lead defense lawyer said on Wednesday in the first glimpse of his strategy for the legal wars ahead.

Mike Ramsey, a locally prominent attorney who has kept a low profile for months, suddenly surfaced at the federal courthouse on the same day former Enron executive Michael Kopper became the first company insider to plead guilty to a crime. In an impromptu news conference, Ramsey tried to distance Lay from the financial scandal that drove Enron to bankruptcy in December. "There were lots of things going on in Enron that lots of people didn't know anything about," he said. "Certainly the crimes that went on at Enron were kept secret on purpose. They were kept secret from the board, they were kept secret from many of the people over there.

"When people steal, they keep it secret," he added. Ramsey said Lay was so far removed from financial deals that helped bring Enron down that he did not even know Kopper, who pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

<snip>

When a reporter asked how it was possible for the chief executive of Enron to be so out of touch, Ramsey said it was a matter of the company's size and structure. "I don't think you understand the way Enron is set up," Ramsey said. "I don't think you understand how many time zones it operates in ///HELLO -- THEY WERE NOT ONLY ALL IN THE SAME TIME ZONE, THEY WERE IN THE SAME BUILDING OR ACROSS THE STREET FROM EACH OTHER, RIGHT? ///, how many people there are and how criminals keep things secret from administration. If you come to understand that, I think you'll understand the whole situation we're in."

His comments were similar to those made by former Enron chief executive Jeff Skilling when he told Congress earlier this year he knew of no wrongdoing in the company. Lay, who has not spoken publicly about the case, has not yet been charged with a crime but is a defendant in numerous shareholder lawsuits. He is accused in the suits of insider stock trading that netted him millions of dollars even as his company was going down the tubes.

[daleo]

20. Sounds like the GW Bush defense

"I am not a criminal, just incompetent at my job."