The jury came back with a verdict in the Enron trial--guilty. According to this Reuters article, Enron's Lay and Skilling guilty, the jury convicted former Enron CEOs, Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. Lay was convicted on all six counts of conspiracy and fraud. Judge Sim Lake also found Lay guilty of four bank fraud charges in a separate trial. Skilling faired no better, convicted of 19 counts of conspiracy, insider trading, making false statements, and fraud by the jury.
What have we learned from this case? Throughout this trial, so much was made about the lawyers in the case--the prosecutor didn't do this, the prosecutor didn't do that, the defense lawyer is so much better than the prosecutor, etc. All of the speculation, all of the second-guessing and yet we seemed to lose sight of a key fact: This case was about the 12 ordinary citizens sitting in the jury box, not the lawyers trying the case.
What might business executives take away from the Enron debacle? First, juries tend not to like people who lie, steal, or cheat. Second, the I'm-too-high-and-mighty-to-be-responsible defense doesn't work. Third, and most importantly, don't like, steal, or cheat.
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