- Idiot defense
The idiot defense is a
satirical term for alegal strategy where a defendant claimsinnocence by virtue of having been ignorant of facts of which the defendant would normally be expected to be aware. Other terms used for this tactic include "dumb CEO defense," "dummy defense," "ostrich defense", and "Sergeant Schultz defense."The term was popularized as result of a number of high-profile corporate accounting scandal defendants claiming that all wrongdoing was performed by others, without the defendant's knowledge or consent. Attorneys for these defendants claimed that their skill was in valuation and deal-making, and that they didn't have the training to recognize
fraud ulent accounting practices. However, in many cases the defendants' subordinates have testified that the defendants ordered them to falsify the accounts.Examples
John J. Rigas
John Rigas , the founder ofAdelphia , was charged with conspiracy, bank fraud and securities fraud. Rigas' defense asserted that he expected the Adelphia board, lawyers, and external accountants to provide him warning of any possible abuse. In his closing statements, Rigas' lawyer asked "Does [John Rigas] have a right to believe that things would be done properly, that adequate and appropriate disclosures were made, that the lawyers and the accountants and the personal accountants would make sure of that?"Rigas was convicted on
July 8 ,2004 .Walter A. Forbes
Walter A. Forbes , formerCEO of CUC International, was charged with 16 counts in relation to inflated earnings statements from CUC before it mergered with HFC Inc. to formCendant . During his trial Forbes testified to working on "the strategy vision part, talking to key clients ...." He also claimed he was "much more valuable to shareholders doing that than being in day-to-day operations." Forbes' attorney, Brendan Sullivan Jr., summarized "The defense of Walter Forbes is that he didn't know about it."The jury in the Forbes' case returned on
January 4 ,2005 . While convicting another defendant, they failed to reach a verdict on the charges against Forbes.Forbes was found guilty of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and two counts of making false statements at a third trial on
October 31 ,2006 .Bernard J. Ebbers
In this case
Bernie Ebbers , formerWorldCom CEO, claimed that $11 billion in fraud was committed by the company'sCFO , Scott Sulivan, and other subordinates without Ebbers' knowledge. During his criminal trial, Ebbers testified "I was shocked. I couldn't believe it, I never thought anything like that would have gone on. I put those people in place. I trusted them. I had no idea they would do anything like this."The prosecutor referred to this as the "aw shucks defense." Bernard J. Ebbers was convicted of all charges on
March 15 ,2005 .Richard M. Scrushy
Richard M. Scrushy , founder and former CEO ofHealthSouth , is the first CEO to be charged with violating theSarbanes-Oxley Act . Scrushy's defense lawyer, Jim Parkman, asked during the trial "That's what y'all did and how you planned it, so (Scrushy) wouldn't know what the whole picture was?"Scrushy was found not guilty of all charges on June 28, 2005.
Kenneth L. Lay
Ken Lay wasindicted on charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, and making false and misleading statements in relation to theEnron collapse. In a "60 Minutes " interview before his trial, Lay said "I don't think I'm a fool. But I think I sure was fooled." He also added "But I can't take responsibility for the criminal conduct of someone inside the company."Lay and
Jeffrey Skilling were convicted on many of the charges (seeThe trial of Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling ).Other uses
Critics of
George W. Bush andTony Blair have also used "idiot defense" to describe the two leaders' basing claims of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction on reports from their respective country'sintelligence agencies . [http://www.hellblazer.com/archives/2004/01/the_idiot_defense.html] [http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2003_12_28_dneiwert_archive.html#107300875064439381]Barry Bonds ' admission of possible steroid use, and claim that he was unaware of any steroids at the time, have also been described as an idiot defense. [http://www.freep.com/sports/rosenberg/rosey18e_20050218.htm]Some consider
Paris Hilton claiming to be ignorant of the suspension of her driver's license, despite her having signed a document acknowledging the fact, to be an example of the idiot defense. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18472845/]References
*cite news | last=Pulliam | first=Susan | title=CEOs Under Fire Employ The 'It Wasn't Me' Defense | date=
14 October 2004 | publisher=The Wall Street Journal | url=http://www.careerjournal.com/myc/legal/20041014-pulliam.html
*cite news | last=O'Brien | first=Tim | title='Dumb CEO Defense' Spares Cendant Chairman From Prison | date=19 January 2005 | publisher=New Jersey Law Journal | url=http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1105968924321
*cite news | title='I was shocked,' Ebbers says of being told about WorldCom irregularities | date=28 February 2005 | publisher=The Clarion-Ledger | url=http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050228/NEWS0108/50228006/1041
*cite news | title=Enron's Lay says he was duped, not dumb | date=14 March 2005 | publisher=Houston Chronicle | url=http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3084201
*cite news | last=Reeves | first=Jay | title=Scrushy Defense: Fraud Hidden From Ex-CEO | date=9 March 2005 | publisher=Associated Press | url=http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050309/ap_on_bi_ge/healthsouth_scrushy_10
*cite news | last=Christoffersen | first=John | title=Jury Finds Ex-Cendant Chairman Guilty | date=31 October 2006 | publisher=Associated Press | url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4300861.htmlCourt documents
* [http://news.findlaw.com/wp/docs/worldcom/usebbers504ind3s.pdf United States of America vs. Bernard J Ebbers] , [http://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/ United States District Court Southern District of New York] , Indictment S3 02 Cr. 1144 (BSJ)
* [http://news.corporate.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/enron/usvlay70704ind.pdf United States of America vs. Kenneth L. Lay, "et al."] , [http://www.txs.uscourts.gov/ United States District Court Southern District of Texas] Houston Division, Cr. No. H-04-25 (S-2). (7 July 2004 )
* [http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/hsouth/usscrushy102903ind.pdf United States of America vs. Richard M. Scrushy] , [http://www.txs.uscourts.gov/ United States District Court Northern District of Alabama] Southern Division, Case No. CR-03-BE-0530-S. (29 October 2003 )Editorials
*cite news | last=Syre | first=Steven | title=The 'idiot' defense | date=
18 January 2005 | publisher=The Boston Globe | url=http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/01/18/the_idiot_defense?mode=PF
*cite news | title=The Idiot Defense | date=6 March 2005 | publisher=Los Angeles Times | url=http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-idiots6mar06,0,2962163.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials
*cite news | last=Harrigan | first=Susan | title='Embattled CEOs wise up to dummy defense | date=16 March 2005 | publisher=Newsday | url=http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzcrim164177551mar16,0,220606.story?coll=ny-business-headlinesSee also
*
Twinkie defense
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