The prosecution of Enron Corp.'s Kenneth L. Lay and Jeffrey K. Skilling is entering a new phase, as the investigation into the energy giant's collapse makes way for trial.
Presiding over the cases against Enron's former leaders is U.S. District Judge Simeon T. Lake III, who will consider his first big decision next week when lawyers for the government and the defendants fight over a trial date in his Houston courtroom.
Lawyers for Lay have said they want the former chairman to be separated from the broader fraud case and to go to trial soon, within weeks. The Justice Department's Enron Task Force wants a trial next year. Lawyers for Skilling and accounting chief Richard A. Causey are seeking even more time to prepare a defense.
Whether a Houston jury hears evidence in one blockbuster trial or a series of smaller cases will be up to a 60-year-old judge who, according to former colleagues, is known for his quick mind and even temper.
Friends said Lake, who was appointed a federal judge in 1988 by President Ronald Reagan, is the embodiment of discipline: first in his law-school class, a veteran who learned Vietnamese during his tour of duty and an avid jogger whose lean frame reflects the well-worn paths he takes along Houston's streets.
Lake declined to be interviewed.
Although he is not widely known outside of Texas, Lake has presided over several high-profile cases during his 16 years on the bench. Earlier this year, he sentenced a mid-level executive at Dynegy Inc. to 24 years in prison for the accountant's role in a $300 million securities fraud. That sentence prompted a heated debate over the federal sentencing guidelines and highlighted an aspect of Lake's demeanor familiar to Houston lawyers: He will not hesitate to impose stiff prison sentences.
"The way I'd put it is, he is a trial lawyer's dream and a defendant's nightmare if they've been convicted," said Houston lawyer David H. Berg, who has tried a case before Lake.
Rusty Hardin, another Houston trial lawyer, said he attributes Lake's tough sentences not to a lack of compassion for defendants, but rather to determination to follow the law.
"Most lawyers would say you're going to get an extremely fair trial in front of him," Hardin said.
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