US judge rules in favor of prosecution on Andersen jury

The judge in the Arthur Andersen trial, in a boost for prosecutors, told the deadlocked jury it could reach a consensus on guilt even if members were divided over the identity of the so-called "corrupt persuader."

Judge Melinda Harmon's decision could help the US government's obstruction of justice case against the accounting firm for destroying documents sought in a federal probe of Enron.

Harmon responded to a question from the jurors, who wanted to know if they could reach a consensus on a conviction even if they are split over who within the accounting firm may have been culpable in the document-shredding scheme.

The hand-written note said: "If each of us believes that one Andersen agent acted knowingly and with corrupt intent, is it (necessary) for all of us to believe it was the same agent?" Harmon told them the answer to the question was no.

Prosecutors had argued in a conference with the judge - in the absence of the jury - that jurors did not need to concur on the identity of the agent to believe the firm shredded Enron-related documents in October 2001 to stymie an official inquiry into Enron's bookkeeping.

But Andersen lawyers argued that the charge did indeed require jurors to settle on one actor.