Criminal Charges Against Ken Lay Dismissed
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
--1 Corinthians 55
Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou are not so.
--John Donne
As expected, the federal judge who presided over the criminal trial voided the fraud and conspiracy convictions of former Enron CEO Ken Lay. Lay died of heart failure soon after his convictions. The court followed long established precedent requiring that criminal convictions be voided where the defendant died without the opportunity to appeal the guilty verdict.
The immediate practical consequence of the ruling is to delay government attempts to collect assets from Lay's estate.
