After what started out as an intense cross-examination, the back and forth between Skilling attorney Daniel Petrocelli and ex-Enron treasurer Ben Glisan had a few lights moments Thursday morning.
Petrocelli said Glisan got his five year prison sentence reduced by a year after enrolling in an alcohol treatment program. He is scheduled to be released to home confinement on September 20, 2006.
Glisan testified he was indeed a social drinker. The 40-year-old said he used to have a couple drinks a night during his years at Enron.
"If you've got a drinking problem then I'm in serious trouble," Daniel Petrocelli said sarcastically to a laughing courtroom.
"I don't have alcohol addiction," a smiling Glisan clarified, "I have alcohol dependency."
During a segue-way to another topic, Petrocelli asked if Glisan was a baseball fan. Glisan replied that he doesn't follow it much.
Petrocelli then mused that "You're the government's cleanup. You're the closer," from which he drew laughs from the audience and an objection from the prosecutors. They objected on the grounds that no question was being asked.
For a day and a half, Glisan provided powerful testimony for prosecutors that Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling knew about and were involved in fraudulent activities at Enron.
Petrocelli has gotten Glisan to admit he, too, has lied in the past; lies that landed him in prison.
Petrocelli said he planned to spend a half day cross-examining Glisan. Ken Lay's legal team appointed attorney Bruce Collins to follow Petrocelli. That could begin today and will likely last through next Monday. As usual, the trial does not meet on Fridays.