2006年VOA标准英语-Jury Selected for Trial of Enron's Top Exe

By Greg Flakus
Houston
31 January 2006
 
watch Enron Trial report

The trial of two former top executives of the Enron corporation began Monday in Houston with the selection of a 12-person jury. Opening arguments are planned for Tuesday.
 

Enron founder¹ Ken² Lay and his wife Linda make their way to federal court in Houston, Monday, Jan. 30, 2006  
  
With jury selection over, both prosecutors³ and defense⁴ attorneys will now set their basic cases before the panel, giving an indication of what strategy they will employ in the weeks ahead.

On trial for fraud are former Enron chairman of the board Kenneth Lay and former Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling. Both say they knew nothing of the fraudulent accounting⁵ that eventually led to the company's collapse⁶ in late 2001. Among the people most hurt were several thousand Enron employees who lost their jobs and all their retirement⁷ savings⁸. Wall Street investors⁹, who at that time were still reeling from the bursting of the hi-tech bubble and the effects of the September 11 terrorist attacks, were also among the big losers.

Attorneys for both Lay and Skilling had asked that the trial be moved out of Houston because so many people have strong feelings about the Enron scandal, a request that was denied. U.S. District Judge Sim Lake, in his instructions to the jury Monday, called on the panel to put aside any such feelings and decide the case based on the evidence presented in court.

Defense attorneys had wanted to spend more time questioning each potential juror, but at the end of the day, they expressed confidence in the 10 men and six women who will sit on the jury and panel of four alternates.

Jeffrey Skilling's attorney Daniel Petrocelli spoke¹⁰ to reporters at the end of the day. "You know, we had some issues, but the judge did a very good job of getting us through the day and we are very pleased with the jury that we have," he said.

Ken Lay also came before reporters briefly¹¹ and expressed confidence in his case. "My fate and Mr. Skilling's fate is in their hands and we are going to get on with making the case that, in fact, we are innocent," he said.

Outside the federal court building in downtown Houston there was a small army of reporters and photographers from around the world who are here to cover the trial. There were also some demonstrators, both for and against the defendants¹². One man even showed up with copies of an audio disc containing rap songs about the Enron case. But Judge Lake has made it clear he wants that sort of activity kept well away from jurors and he warned them not to talk to anyone, including fellow jurors, about the case until all the evidence has been presented and it is time for them to come to a verdict.

1 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

2 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

3 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

6 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

7 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

8 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

9 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

12 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件