Ebbers Retrial Bid Thrown Out
|
A federal judge has thrown out Bernie Ebbers' bid for a retrial. His sentencing is set to continue. Ebbers's lawyers had argued that Judge Barbara S. Jones had been wrong to tell jurors they could find him guilty, if they determined that he had consciously avoided information about the fraud. Her judgment read, "would permit a rational juror to find that defendant's involvement in the fraud at WorldCom was so overwhelmingly suspicious that his ignorance was due to his conscious avoidance of guilty knowledge." The defense also sought immunity for three witnesses, who they argued, would have supported Ebbers' case. Judge Jones, wrote in response, "That these individuals did not know about the fraud at WorldCom does not prove that defendant was similarly ignorant," she wrote in her opinion, adding that the defense failed to show that the government gained any advantage by not granting the executives immunity. Leniency has been claimed becauase of age, health and charitable good deeds. Previously, he has surrendered his $40m in personal wealth, to investors who lost money through the scam. Most pundits estimate that he will receive a sentence of 10-15 years. The argument that he was ignorant of the fraud was a central element in the original defense in the trial. A similar argument was used by Richard Scrushy, CEO of HealthSouth Corp, which led to a successful acquittal.
|
Selected Books Keywords
|