Jacob Frenkel Quotes (31 Quotes)

In the last two years, the government has painstakingly climbed ladders, gotten different people along the way to plead guilty in order to go after someone at the higher rung. We're now at the top of the ladder.

We have the government being very aggressive on the concept of criminal intent in jury charges. And now we have the number two example of it being overturned.

I've been rather skeptical based on how long it has taken and the nature of the charges that have been brought to date against Enron officials whether they would ever get to Ken Lay,

The hammer over the co-operator's head is the importance of the prosecutor giving full credit for the co-operation at the time of sentencing.

Sometimes it takes the filing of an indictment to induce a plea and cooperation.

It changes the face of the trial for the prosecutors and the defense.

Judges normally show greater sympathy for people of advanced years and deteriorating health,

Now anyone who wants to know what trial court judges in New York state are doing when confronted with conviction in a high-profile corporate fraud case, the answer is imposing a significant sentence.

I believe firmly there is still room based on the interests of all the parties to find some common ground before the first juror sets foot in the courtroom.

What it really means is a shorter, more focused trial, which is better for the government. It probably takes out of the equation some of the more complex accounting issues. The defense was likely hoping to make this case seem like a complex civil financial fraud case, and without Causey, that will be more difficult.

They had to have some contingency plan for trial preparations for a case without Causey. Now they just put that plan in place.

It's rather unlikely that potential jurors either didn't have family members or didn't know people that were directly affected by Enron. My greatest concern isn't the jurors who are speaking to the court honestly but those that want to get on the jury either to make a point to right the wrong of Enron...or to make sure that they can make the round of talk shows.

While it's hard to compare-and-contrast (the two trials), there's no question that prosecutors tried a more streamlined case this time.

These cases are not a slam dunk. The biggest challenge for the government, if it wins, is to make the win stick.

The strategy in all these prosecutions is to secure cooperation and slowly build cases against more senior participants.

Less rope is needed for two necks, as the government's noose tightens. The government always benefits from the addition of high-level insiders who would have been party to conversations with most senior executives.

Various counsel have communicated with the government on his behalf since the allegations arose.

The only time the Department of Justice asks for a stay is because it is going down the road of returning an indictment.

Not disclosing material facts about the transaction, such as guarantees against loss, could constitute a crime.

It takes a mature, confident and thoughtful judge to acknowledge and identify a real legal issue. That's not to say there may not be other significant issues it's just she has identified one she believes is the most likely to be considered on appeal.

if (Black is) charged, if there's a trial, and if there is a conviction, we would be looking at a sentence along the high end of the corporate executives who already have been convicted and sentenced in the United States - into two decades.

Any time there is a transfer of assets and there is a cloud over the assets, any transfer is at risk of being undone.

What it means is they have locked down a key cooperator who can, at a minimum, disprove what has been a publicly articulated key element of her defense, that being the stop-loss order.

You're painting a picture of more compelling evidence,

If a quarterback is injured in a big football game, the game doesn't stop. But it is disruptive and a significant distraction on a professional level because Lay and Ramsey have developed a relationship.

There certainly existed a mindset in the late '90s by some that the corporate till was a personal entitlement.

These cases have significant policy implications. To see two senior executives facing prison terms representing the balance of their lives sends a very strong message.

a desperate move made with the hope of eliciting some sympathy from the court to permit him to spend some part of the remainder of his life outside of jail.

It means that the prosecutors are already having the name plate written to go over the jail cell.

The fact that some dire predictions didn't materialize mainly reflects the robustness of the U.S. economy. 2005 has showed us that it is able to absorb more shocks than previously thought.

I don't think there's any question that prosecutors who adopt a 'KISS' (keep-it-simple, stupid) strategy usually are able to make a much more meaningful and cogent presentation to the jury.