Guess which group of people gave these answers when asked they thought of Ken Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, and the fall of Enron?
- Skilling and Lay are “guilty”: “I think they probably knew they were breaking the law.”
- “Collapse was due to greed and mismanagement …. What a shame.”
- “Greed on Enron’s part …. A lot of people were hurt financially.”
- “It makes me angry that so many people lost their jobs and their retirement savings.”
- “I cannot say if they are guilty or innocent, I would say they are suspect.”
- “It was sad. People lost jobs and money—lots of money.”
- “If [Lay] did not know what was going on in his company, he was really a poor manager/leader.”
- “Angry” about Enron: “I feel bad for those that worked hard and invested in the corp. – only to have it all taken away.”
- “[There were] [n]ot enough corporate controls or effective audit procedures to prevent mismanagement of corporate assets.”
- “I think that the involuntary loss of the 401(k) savings made the most impact on me, especially because I have been forced to forfeit my own 401(k) funds to survive layoffs.”
- What stands out: “The sad state of the long-term loyal employees who are left with nothing…”
- Bankruptcy caused by “[p]oor management and bad judgment. Greed.”
These aren't the words of Enron shareholders, or a random group of citizens. They're the pretrial juror questionnaire answers from actual jurors who were seated and who deliberated in the Enron criminal trial.
"We really want people who will start with an open mind"
The quotes come from the appeal brief that Jeffrey Skilling's lawyers filed last week. (Thanks to White Collar Crime Prof Blog, among others, for posting the brief. I love the image of those crime law professors in their white collars.) The brief was the talk of the Web last week because of its awesome 237-page length, but the fact is it's worth reading.
How could such an angry group have been sworn as jurors? There were two main reasons, Skilling's lawyers argue. First, the trial took place in Houston, where the average person and the average news story were bitter and resentful about Enron, far more so than in other cities. Second, the trial judge's voir dire was brief and leading, maneuvering the jurors away from their questionnaire responses and toward safely neutral positions:
Sitting in a ceremonial courtroom, with the national media and spectators present, the jurors knew the world was watching. And the court made clear the answers it was looking for: “we want people who will listen to the evidence,” “we really want people who can start with an open mind,” “we don’t want you to prejudge people,” “we want 16 jurors … who will faithfully, conscientiously and impartially serve.” . . . The jurors responded by retracting their inflammatory questionnaire responses and insisting they could be fair, just as Dr. Bronson warned.
This was a disturbing pattern throughout voir dire:
- Questionnaire: “I think they are all guilty of knowing what was happening to the company, but did nothing to let the employees know.”
- Voir Dire: “It’s been a long time since I answered that questionnaire…. Honestly, I don’t know that I should have put it that way.”
- Questionnaire: Both Skilling and Lay “guilty,” “unsure” of ability to be fair.
- Voir Dire: “Q. Do you think fraud happened at Enron?” “A. You know what? I’m not sure…. I don’t know if it was something fraudulent.”
- Questionnaire: “Angry” about Enron, because “Enron management … robbed [employees] of everything for their future.”
- Voir Dire: “I guess at the time … [I thought] there was some things going on that were not legal.” Now, “I don’t know if it was legal or illegal….”
- Questionnaire: “Unsure” of ability to base decision on the evidence.
- Voir Dire: “I would base my opinion on [the evidence]. I’m sure of that.”
The brief's examples go on and on. There's been some on-line derision at the length of this document -- but at least in the voir dire section, I'm not sure what I would have recommended they leave out.
(Photo by Alexander Steffler at http://www.flickr.com/photos/alex-s/153278358/; license details there.)
