Houstonians: Good judges of character

Lay, Skilling Seek New Enron Trial Venue, Citing Juror Pool Vitriol
Kristen Hays
The Associated Press
01-06-2006

Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling say potential jurors' answers to questionnaires in their fraud and conspiracy case are so vitriolic the men can't get a fair trial in Houston.

Prospective jurors called Skilling a "high-class crook," who "would lie to his mother if it would further his cause." He "projects a high sleaze factor," he's a "thief," and a "cheater," according to a filing Wednesday in which his lead attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, asked again to move the trial to another city.

The filing noted some of the potential jurors called Lay "the biggest lying crook of all," a "career Enron leader who conveniently looked the other way as his lieutenants bent and broke laws in pursuit of profits and ever greater stock prices" and "did a lot of injustice to a lot of good people."

"These are not the hasty responses of random people who participated in a test survey. These are actual responses from actual prospective jurors in this case who took time to carefully and thoughtfully write out their answers," Petrocelli said in the filing.