HOUSTON — Defense lawyers in the Enron Corp. fraud trial wasted no time Monday trying to establish a key point in their case -- that many of the government's witnesses were coerced into testifying by aggressive prosecutors.
Former Enron employee Joannie Williamson, the first witness called by lawyers for Kenneth L. Lay and Jeffrey K. Skilling, testified that her boss at the energy giant confided to her in August 2004 that he was pleading guilty to a crime despite his belief that he was innocent.
Her former boss, then-Enron investor relations head Mark E. Koenig, was the government's leadoff witness. Williamson's testimony supported the defense's contention that the government pressured many of its witnesses into signing cooperation agreements and admitting to crimes they didn't commit.
As the trial entered its 10th week, defense lawyers said the anticipated dramatic high point of the case -- testimony by former Chief Executive Skilling and Enron founder Lay -- may come sooner than expected. Daniel M. Petrocelli, Skilling's lead lawyer, said the defense had juggled its witness lineup and now expected to put Skilling on the stand this week, perhaps as early as Wednesday. Petrocelli earlier said he expected Skilling to appear at the end of next week.
Williamson testified that she worked for Koenig for nine years and became close friends with him and his wife. Under questioning by Chip B. Lewis, a lawyer for Lay, Williamson said she did not believe Koenig had done anything wrong and felt that he was honest.
Williamson said that when she heard a voicemail message from Koenig on the morning of Aug. 25, 2004, telling her that he intended to plead guilty that day and sign a cooperation agreement with the government, "I was shocked. I was stunned. I was hurt."
When Koenig called her later in the day, she asked him: "Why did you plead guilty? You're not guilty," she testified.
Williamson said Koenig replied that he knew he was not guilty but that in order for his story to work, "everyone needs to feel that I am."
On cross-examination by co-lead prosecutor Kathryn H. Ruemmler, Williamson said she understood Koenig to mean that he needed to convince the federal prosecutors that he believed he was guilty.
Ruemmler, noting Williamson's view that Koenig was honest, asked whether she also believed that he had lied under oath when he testified earlier in the trial that he had committed the crime -- aiding and abetting securities fraud -- to which he had pleaded.
