HOUSTON, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- A federal prosecutor told a judge in Houston the government might appeal her ruling tossing out the convictions of a former Enron finance executive.
Prosecutor Jonathan Lopez also asked U.S. District Court Judge Vanessa Gilmore to set a new trial date for Ken Howard, former finance chief of Enron's broadband unit, even if the government does not appeal, The Houston Chronicle reported.
Howard's lawyer, Jim Lavine, suggested prosecutors "wisely use the taxpayers' money, put this case behind them and let Kevin Howard go home and get on with his life."
Gilmore reversed Howard's five convictions of conspiracy, wire fraud and falsifying financial records because the way prosecutors used a legal theory in a separate Enron case was deemed flawed by the appellate court.
A jury found Howard guilty of the charges last year at the conclusion of a trial stemming from a late 2000 deal to sell an interest in future profits of a video-on-demand venture that later flopped.
