It was on appeal....
What he couldn't do in the courtroom, former Enron Chairman Ken Lay may finally be able to achieve in death \ufffd avoid a criminal record.[link|http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4027259.html| Houston Chron ]
Lay, 64, who died of a heart attack in Aspen, Colo., early Wednesday morning, will likely have his case vacated, meaning it will be as if he were never charged.
Government efforts to seize more than $43 million in assets from him through criminal proceedings will likely also end with his death, although the government could file civil forfeiture proceedings.
With his death from a massive heart attack today, Ken Lay cheated justice. And then some. Not only will the Enron founder not end his days in prison, but according to legal precedent, his entire case will be erased from the records.[link|http://www.forbes.com/work/management/2006/07/05/lay_cheats_justice_cz_ch_0705laycheats.html| Forbes ]
That means that, in legal terms at least, Lay was never convicted, tried or even indicted for Enron misdeeds.
For Lay's estate, and his widow Linda, the positive implication of this grim day is that the government now has no means to collect on its forfeiture claim against Lay for $43.5 million.
It's hard to believe, but the case law on this point is crystal clear, says Peter Henning, professor at Wayne State University Law School. "The idea is that you can't punish a dead person. It's not fair," says Henning. "Lay didn't get a chance to go in front of a court of appeals, which he had an absolute legal right to do."
