An Enron innocent: She fought fraud charges and won!
What advice do you have for the defense teams?
Winston Churchill said, "If you're going through hell, keep going." You have to look and listen to the witnesses. Does the hard evidence support or contradict their testimony? Make clear and succinct points through the government's witnesses. Get in as much hard evidence as possible. I believe that jurors give significantly more weight to hard evidence than to testimony, particularly if that testimony is coming from someone who is trying to reduce prison time.
Has this experience changed the way you work? Are you more careful about things now?
I'm just as vocal as I have ever been. But I will try to be more aware of things going on around me. My advice to people in the business world is to not always believe you are being told everything. Make sure your positions are known and challenge authority. Whether you are an employee, an employer, or, most importantly, a prosecutor, or a judge: Do the right thing.
How has this changed you?
It has educated and changed me. As a citizen, I am greatly concerned about our justice system. I was naive. I thought our legal system was based on a search for the truth, but I've learned that it is based more on controlling the truth. I have witnessed the compromises people are willing to make to protect themselves even if it means sacrificing the truth and the life of another. I've also realized the importance of family and true friends. I am more appreciative and less judgmental about others. I have spent a lot of time practicing forgiveness. You have to forgive and move on. You have to do it for yourself. I read a book by [Harold] Kushner: When Bad Things Happen to Good People. His point is not to ask, "Why did this happen to me?" but "What am I going to do about it?" To pick yourself out of the fetal position is a tough thing. But you've got to go and fight that fight.
Aren't you angry?
It is natural to be upset when you have been through what I've been through. I've experienced things that have shattered my perception of the legal system. I lost a year of my life. I lost my faith in the government. I have seen the dark side of human nature, the side that is willing to sacrifice the life of another for their own through speaking untruthfully or not speaking at all. It has been heartbreaking, to say the very least. I'm not too upset at the people who testified against me so that they could see their children grow up. I don't feel like they had any other choice. I pray that my experience was an aberration, but I fear that it is more commonplace than Americans realize. I continue to try to practice forgiveness on a daily basis. I am not saying I am completely there yet, but I have come a long way.
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