Top court to hear Andersen appeal

Jan. 8, 2005, 12:54AM

Top court to hear Andersen appeal
Accounting firm was convicted of obstructing the Enron investigation
By MARY FLOOD
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider overturning the conviction of the Arthur Andersen accounting firm for obstruction of justice in the shredding of thousands of Enron documents.

The high court is likely to hear arguments in April and could decide as soon as June.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had upheld the 2002 conviction and U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon's instructions to the jury.

The controversy is over whether the judge's instructions were so broad that jurors would convict a company that innocently destroyed documents in the normal course of business and not just a company that intentionally tried to hide information from the government.
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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topstory/2982950
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