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RAIN 0519 Weekly Update: Legal



USA Today 5/12/02
Andersen lawyer sets up motive for witness
By Greg Farrell, USA TODAY
HOUSTON — Week one of the government's trial of Arthur Andersen
on charges of obstruction of justice in the Enron probe ended on a
dramatic note. Defense lawyers presented a motive they said could
explain why Andersen partner David Duncan might, on his own, have
led destruction of the firm's Enron documents last October: To protect
himself.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/energy/enron/2002-05-13-andersen.htm



Wall St Journal 5/14/02
Duncan Testifies That He Knew
Enron Papers Would Be Lost
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB1021326626937370240,00.html



AP 5/14/02
Duncan Says He Knew About Documents
By MARK BABINECK, Associated Press Writer
HOUSTON (AP) - David B. Duncan, the former Arthur Andersen LLP auditor, hardly had settled into the witness chair before he implicated himself and his former employer in the shredding of Enron Corp. documents.
Duncan said Monday he knew he was breaking the law when he directed other employee
implement Andersen policies that resulted in the destruction of the papers.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...14/ap_on_bi_ge/andersen_trial_53&printer=1



The Mercury News 5/14/02
Yahoo, others fight search warrant
ruling
NET GROUPS AGAINST POLICE PRESENCE
Reuters
Web giant Yahoo and several Internet trade associations filed
papers Monday seeking to overturn a court ruling which they
said could fill the offices of Internet companies with police
officers overseeing the execution of search warrants.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/3259678.htm


Wall St Journal 5/15/02
Duncan Says Fear of Lawsuits
Drove Shredding of Documents
By JONATHAN WEIL and ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
HOUSTON -- The government's key witness in Arthur Andersen LLP's criminal trial told jurors he launched the accounting firm's massive campaign to destroy documents in October because he feared potential lawsuits and regulatory inquiries over Andersen's audits for Enron Corp.
The testimony by David Duncan, a former Andersen partner in charge of the Enron account, marks a shift from his earlier comments on the document destruction, which is at the heart of the government's case against Andersen.
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB1021402543607965400,00.html



New York Time s5/15/02
Strongest Evidence Yet Offered at
Andersen Trial
By KURT EICHENWALD
OUSTON, March 14 — Auditors with Arthur Andersen billed Enron
about $720,000 for dealing with a federal inquiry into its finances at the
same time they were destroying boxes of documents related to the company,
according to records and testimony presented today at the firm's trial on a
charge of obstruction of justice.
The billing records were the government's strongest documentary evidence
yet demonstrating not only that Andersen knew about an informal
investigation into Enron by the Securities and Exchange Commission but also
that accountants who were shredding documents were simultaneously
spending large amounts of time working on matters related to the inquiry.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/15/business/15AUDI.html



Houston Chronicle 5/15/02
Duncan says he didn't question legality of shredding until
recently
By TOM FOWLER
The prosecution's star witness in Arthur Andersen's obstruction of justice trial testified today that up until a couple of months ago he did not believe he broke the law when he had Enron-related documents shredded last fall.
Former Arthur Andersen auditor David Duncan said he began to change his mind after reviewing the law in late January or early February. By March he was discussing with his family the possibility that he had violated the law.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.hts/topstory2/1411542



National Post May 15, 2002
I gave shred order, Duncan tells court
Ex-Andersen partner: Enron papers destroyed according to
company policy
http://www.nationalpost.com/financialpost/worldbusiness/story.html?f=/stories/20020515/230593.html


Atlanta Journal Constitution 5/15/02
ENRON ENTANGLEMENTS: 'Shred' was understood directive
Ex-Andersen partner testifies
Bloomberg News
Wednesday, May 15, 2002
Houston --- David Duncan, the former Arthur Andersen LLP partner called by
prosecutors to testify against the accounting firm, said it was ''generally understood'' that employees should shred Enron Corp. documents.
''I saw people cleaning out their office area, and I saw people shred documents,''
Duncan testifed on Tuesday.
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/wednesday/business_c31e0f1fc3fb40e0003d.html


Ledger-Enquirer 5/16/02
Auditor saved copies of some documents,
including `smoking gun' memo
BY E.A. TORRIERO
Chicago Tribune
HOUSTON - (KRT) - Andersen's lead auditor on the Enron Corp.
account testified Thursday that he saved copies of some documents
that might have proved embarrassing or damaging to his firm, despite
his massive campaign to shred other Enron records.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/nation/3278443.htm



AP 5/16/02
Ex-Andersen Exec: Kept Key Files
Thu May 16, 7:58 PM ET
By MARK BABINECK, Associated Press Writer
HOUSTON (AP) - The former Arthur Andersen LLP partner who admitted
to illegally destroying Enron Corp.-related documents acknowledged
Thursday that he preserved several potentially embarrassing records.
Perhaps the most dramatic moment of the day, however, was when Andersen's lead attorney got into a shouting match with U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon, who stormed off the bench after being accused of "bias."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020516/ap_on_bi_ge/andersen_trial_73


Reuters Business Report 5/16/02
Duncan Says He Kept Key Enron Records
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/020516/financial_andersen_trial_1.html


AP 5/16/02
Burned Documents Cited in Tire Trial
Thu May 16, 6:57 PM ET
By MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer
A former Cooper Tire and Rubber Co. employee told a judge Thursday she burned documents — which people suing the company say could concern manufacturing defects — after a superior suggested they be gotten rid of.
Cathy Jean Barnett, who worked in quality control at a Cooper tire plant in
Tupelo, Miss., testified during a federal court hearing requested by relatives of
four people who were killed and two others who were injured in a 1998 car crash
in east Arkansas.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020516/ap_on_bi_ge/cooper_tire_trial_2



AP 5/16/02
Sanctions Sought Against Cooper Tire
Thu May 16, 2:47 PM ET
By MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Attorneys for the families of four Arkansans killed in a tire blowout accident sought sanctions Thursday against Ohio-based Cooper Tire and Rubber Co. for alleged misconduct in the destruction of documents the plaintiffs say are related to the case.
At a pretrial hearing Thursday in U.S. District Court at Little Rock, a former employee of Cooper's Tupelo, Miss., plant testified about quality control documents she was in charge of compiling.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020516/ap_on_bi_ge/cooper_tire_trial_1



New York Times 5/17/02
Judge and Lawyer at Andersen Trial Exchange Barbs
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/17/business/17AUDI.html


New York Times 5/17/02
Traders Also Swapped Broadband,
Data Show
By DAVID BARBOZA
OUSTON, May 17 — Big energy trading companies engaged in scores
of transactions aimed at creating the appearance of activity as they tried
to build a market for trading high-speed communications capacity, according
to records and interviews with former employees and executives at the
companies.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/17/business/17SWAP.html



Orlando Sentinel 5/17/02
Lawsuit pursues phone records
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-locfeeney17051702may17.story?coll=orl%2Dnews%2Dhea



Peter A. Kurilecz CRM, CA
pakurilecz@aol.com
Richmond, Va