Ebbers Plans to Testify in His Own Defense

Former WorldCom Inc. Chief Executive Bernard J. Ebbers plans to take the witness stand in his own defense Monday at his federal accounting fraud trial in New York, a defense lawyer said.

In a meeting with the judge overseeing the case, defense lawyer Brian Heberlig said, "I think there is a very high probability that Mr. Ebbers will testify Monday."

Ebbers, accused of orchestrating an $11-billion accounting fraud at WorldCom -- now MCI Inc. -- has maintained that he did nothing wrong. Still, having him testify opens him up to an extremely risky cross-examination by prosecutors.