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In courtroom wrangling over white-collar crimes, the way family support is perceived can be important. In the Enron trial, it was often about the wives.
Linda Lay, the former secretary turned second wife to Enron ex-chairman Ken Lay, stood by her man every day of the four-month trial that ended in her husband's conviction Thursday.
Usually, she sat in the first row of the spectator gallery, about 20 feet from her husband. But as the clock approached 11 a.m. in Houston Thursday, the hour of judgment for Ken Lay, she moved into the front part of the courtroom to be beside him.
Linda Lay maintained the same tight grasp on her husband's hand that she's had in all the trips to and from the courtroom.
That wasn't the case with Rebecca Carter, former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling's second wife and former corporate board secretary. She did not attend every day of the trial and was not in the courtroom when it was time for a verdict. Outside the courthouse, after being convicted on all counts, Skilling thanked his family, especially his three children, but didn't mention his wife.
Beth Bonora, a jury consultant in San Francisco, says it's important for those on trial to have family members in the courtroom to "convey that other people care about you and believe in you. ... People are curious about relationships, the dynamics" of family members in the courtroom.
The Enron wives were under a lot of pressure, says Mike Paul, a New York public relations consultant who advises clients facing charges.
"You have these wives who themselves probably were lied to for many, many years and who probably knew things that they turned their heads away from, and they're trying to be loyal and be there for their husbands," says Paul. "They're thinking: 'I guess this is the kind of loyalty you're supposed to have.'"
But it's hard to disguise strong emotions in a courtroom, he says. "It's about fear mixed with anger; all those hidden emotions are right on top," he says. "I never tell clients to hold their wife's hand if they truly can't show empathy, because it will backfire."
Skilling's wife and his ex-wife made his legal predicament darker with their own stock trades. Before they were married, Carter sold more than $1 million in Enron stock in October and November 2000. His ex-wife, Susan Skilling Lowe, exercised Enron options for $14 million that October, about the time Enron's desperate attempt to unload unprofitable international assets fell through. Skilling testified the sales were coincidental.
Linda Lay had a more public role as the scandal unfolded. On the Today Show in January 2002, she tearfully told of the family's financial plight and the stress of having her husband's life scrutinized. She opened a consignment shop which sold hers and others' goods because of what she called a "liquidity crisis."
In the courtroom, Linda Lay favored brightly colored, yet conservative, pantsuits. Carter kept a low profile in court, often dressed in black.
The key to dressing, experts say, is to not look arrogant, overdressed, tacky or wealthy. "If they were my clients, I'd tell them that the perception is that you are these flashy, Texas, Southern women who had access to friendships with the president, the governor, with top celebrities," says Paul. "All of that is gone now."
As Skilling left the courthouse with his lawyer, the Lays joined hands again -- this time with supporters inside the courthouse in a prayer circle.
Outside the courthouse, Lay, facing life in prison, described his life as "blessed." Among the reasons: "On my left is this beautiful woman who is my wife."
Contributing: Greg Farrell in Houston
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