Destroyed but vindicated
Houston Chronicle:
The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the obstruction of justice conviction of Enron accounting firm Arthur Andersen, ruling unanimously today that a Houston jury received flawed instructions from the judge.
(See 18 USC 1512 §§(b)(2)(A) and (B), the statute under which the firm was indicted.)
What the Chronicle doesn't note is that the judge adopted the flawed instructions at the Government's urging and over the objections of Arthur Andersen's counsel.
In a succinct 11-page opinion by Chief Justice William Rehnquist ... the high court found that Houston U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon's instructions to the jury were vague. The opinion focused mostly on the question of whether Arthur Andersen employees were "knowingly" and "corruptly" persuaded to destroy Enron-related documents.Rehnquist wrote that jurors were not required to find ... "the requisite consciousness of wrongdoing. Indeed, it is striking how little culpability the instructions required." He noted jurors were instructed they could convict even if Andersen "honestly and sincerely believed its conduct was lawful."
The Government may retry the case, and a second, properly instructed jury may yet convict the company. But for a firm that always maintained it did nothing wrong, today's decision is vindicating.
Following Arthur Andersen's indictment and conviction, roughly 28,000 people lost their jobs. The firm now employs only 200.
The Supreme Court's opinion, in pdf format, is here.