Andersen Pleads Not Guilty
By Frank Ahrens
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 20, 2002; 3:05 PM
HOUSTON, March 20--The federal government's obstruction-of-justice case against auditing firm Arthur Andersen LLP was dealt an early-round blow today by a folksy defense lawyer and a judge with an upcoming vacation.
As expected in a morning arraignment, the embattled accounting firm pleaded not guilty to charges that it obstructed justice by shredding documents related to the collapse of Enron, one of Andersen's biggest clients.
After the arraignment, in a pre-trial hearing before U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon, both sides squared off over when the trial would start, a key point to the defense.
The government, led by prosecutor Samuel Buell, had requested that the trial start in late May, after Memorial Day, citing the need to do additional research and prepare witnesses, which he estimated to number between 20 and 30. Buell said the government "welcomed" a trial to begin within the mandated period of 70 days.
But Andersen defense lawyer Rusty Hardin, well-known in Houston for his down-home courtroom acumen, pushed for a much earlier trial date, saying his client's future dims with each day that the indictment hangs over its head.
"You have a company here whose very existence is in jeopardy," Hardin said.
Buell countered that the company's well-being has not been harmed by the government.
"They had problems before we indicted them" he said.
Hardin asked Harmon to set a trial date of April 22, which government prosecutors strenuously objected to.
At that point, Harmon told the court she had booked a vacation from May 29 to June 6, had bought her tickets "and I paid out the nose for them," so she, too, was interested in moving up the trial date. She eventually decided the trial should start May 6.
Buell had no comment on the decision.
At a news conference outside the courtroom after the hearing, Andersen managing partner Gene Frauenheim said: "We need to get this resolved. Our people are nervous because we're losing clients."
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