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Closing Arguments Given Today in Andersen Trial

Aired June 05, 2002 - 12:23   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Closing arguments today in the Arthur Andersen trial in Houston, Texas. The firm is accused of obstructing justice when it destroyed Enron documents.

Our Jen Rogers joins us live from outside the courtroom with the latest on these proceedings -- Jen.

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Carol.

Well, this trial is the first criminal trial to come out of the Enron scandal from the fall of 2001. But it doesn't even really directly relate to Enron. Enron not on trial here; their auditor, Andersen, is on trial. But they are not on trial for their accounting, they are on trial for obstruction of justice; for allegedly destroying documents trying to impede, subvert a government investigation. In this case, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC.

The burden of proof is on the government, and this morning they started their closing at about 10:00 AM. After 21 days and 28 witnesses, Prosecutor Sam Buell trying to connect the dots of the government's case for the jury. Mr. Buell arguing to the jury that the evidence in this case is wide and deep. He said, "All you need is one person, one document. But here you have so much more."

After Mr. Buell wraps up, Rusty Hardin, Andersen's lead defense attorney, a colorful Houston litigator who arrived here at federal court this morning with his team of lawyers, expected to argue not so much with the facts -- Andersen has admitted to destroying documents. Mr. Hardin is expected instead to focus on the intent.

But the firm wasn't trying to do the wrong thing. In fact, he argued the firm was trying to do the right thing. That this was a cleanup effort. That they were getting rid of extraneous documents. That they weren't getting rid of anything important and that they certainly never intended to obstruct justice.

So what happens next? Well the jury will get this case and then the fate of the company will be in their hands. A guilty verdict would basically be a death blow to Andersen. The company really right now just a shell of its former self after an exodus of clients following the Enron scandal.

So for them, not so much on the line, really just their legacy. For the government, though, this could be very important. Many people speculating that if a non-guilty verdict was handed down that this could basically take some of the momentum away from the government's case, as they try to bring some future charges against people at Enron and the Enron corporation.

So maybe more on the line for the government in this case. But the jury expected to be getting this and going into deliberations possibly as early as this afternoon -- Carol.

LIN: All right. Thank you very much. Lots at stake in Houston, Texas -- Jen Rogers.

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