Wheels of justice still turning for ex-Enron execs

Prosecutors in the various Enron trials have been busy this week filing rebuttals to requests from former executives including Jeff Skilling, who asked for a new trial and the chance to interview jurors who convicted him in May.

In his request for a new trial, Skilling said the government misled him about how it would use the so-called "Global Galactic" agreement, which detailed ex-Enron CFO Andy Fastow's secret side deals, against him. Skilling said he would have had the document tested for authenticity if he'd known it was going to be used against him; the government said in its rebuttal that Skilling knew prosecutors had a copy of the list, so a forensic analysis would have been worthless. As for the request to interview jurors, prosecutors said Skilling could only do so if it would show jurors' decision was influenced by outside forces.

The government also filed an objection to a request from former Enron Broadband Services exec Kevin Howard for a new trial; some jurors in Howard's trial said others on the jury pressured them into finding Howard guilty. Prosecutors, as you might expect, said that didn't happen.

Also recently, Fastow's lawyers and the Justice Department filed a request for postponement of Fastow's sentencing, which is scheduled for Aug. 28. In the request, attorneys said Sept. 25 would be the first date all the defense and prosecution lawyers would be available. Another request for a week's delay in sentencing came from Howard's lawyers, who said they couldn't prepare the necessary paperwork by the scheduled Sept. 11 sentencing date.