Former Enron Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling appealed a court decision upholding his convictions for leading the fraud that destroyed the world's largest energy trader, Bloomberg reported.
Skilling's lawyers asked all 16 judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans to hear his appeal, which a three-judge panel denied Jan. 6. He also asked the appellate panel to reconsider its denial in a second hearing.
Today was the deadline for Skilling to request a rehearing at the New Orleans court, and Skilling's lawyers said they would meet that deadline. Steve Totora, an employee in the court clerk's office, said the court received the documents and will post them later.
Skilling claims his convictions for conspiracy, fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors were tainted by a flawed legal theory, faulty jury instructions, biased jurors and prosecutorial misconduct.
The panel's ruling denying his appeal is inconsistent with rulings the same court has rendered in other Enron- related cases, Skilling said. In those cases, the judges said executives couldn't be found guilty of depriving Enron of their so-called honest services because they had acted in the company's best interest, at the request of superiors and without personal profit. The panel said Skilling was guilty of so-called honest-services theft because he directed the fraud.