Enron trial winds down

By Scott Files

Published on May 05, 2006

The defense team for both men has a tentative plan to rest their case on Monday or Tuesday. Prosecutors have already decided on as many as 10 rebuttal witnesses.

Richard Causey, Enron's former Chief Accounting Officer, who was scheduled to stand trial alongside Lay and Skilling entered a guilty plea at the end of last year and will not be asked to testify in the current proceeding.

The defense's most recent witness, an economics expert, testified that Mr. Lay's stock portfolio did not indicate that Enron was in trouble. "He had an extreme lack of diversity," said Christopher Barry, chairman of the finance department at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, describing Lay's portfolio that by early 2001 was 90 percent Enron.

Prosecutor's fired back suggesting that Mr. Barry's conclusions were based solely on information that had been supplied by Mr. Lay's defense team.

If the remaining testimony and 12 hours of closing arguments go as planned, the jury should be deliberating by May 17th.

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