Trial, Week 5: Moving right along

Things didn't go so well for Ken Lay in his trial last week: A former Enron exec testified that ex-Enron Chairman Lay knowingly reported false information about the company's well-being and used the company like an ATM — a high-dollar ATM, of course.

Not only did Paula Rieker, who was managing director of investor relations, testify that Lay continued misrepresenting Enron's earnings even after she gave him correct information, but she said Lay borrowed a lot of money from a revolving account even as the company was going downhill (or, if you asked Lay, wasn't going downhill): a million here, a million there. She also talked about the time Lay unloaded $70 million in Enron stock as the company headed toward bankruptcy. As far as co-defendant Jeff Skilling, Enron's former CEO, Rieker said he also misrepresented the company's health but she didn't correct him because she knew he didn't like to be corrected. Rieker held her own during cross-examination and even showed some sass, asking Petrocelli to back off when he invaded her personal space at the witness stand.

This week, prosecutors are expected to call Wesley Colwell, the former head accountant for Enron's trading arm, to the stand. Though Colwell is cooperating with prosecutors and the SEC, he hasn't been charged with a crime. For now, if you're feeling a little Enron-deprived from the weekend break in trial proceedings, see what The Washington Post has to say about the jury: They're smart and well-dressed, but will they really get it? Also, enjoy the question of the decade from an Enron employee to Lay and relive Rieker under cross, when she got a little cross herself.