Michael Ramsey Quotations

We want her on the stand. We will put in all the notes from those meetings. They'll show that (Enron) was a well-run organization and a lot of people were asking righteous questions. They demonstrate an intelligent corporation in action.

Leaks like that to the press may cause people to be accused falsely in the papers. It's a despicable way to run a DA's office.

(She) took all the raw notes of all the meetings of the board. They're better than minutes. Board minutes are notoriously dry and empty. Her notes will have a lot more color.

Should they have caught him earlier? Sure. Somebody should've caught him. He's a psychopath.

One of the strongest parts of our case has to do with the fact that Ken Lay never sold one share of Enron stock that he was not compelled to sell.

He was a man we worked side-by-side, shoulder-by-shoulder with for months.

He lost a fortune; his family lost a fortune. He can certainly feel the pain of those who lost money in it. He will feel that until the day he dies.

We're proud of him. He's got a long record of civic responsibility and charitable work.

What you're seeing up here is a scripted ventriloquist act.

He's ecstatic and feels like he's finally been vindicated.

He cut up Morris, puts him in the bags and threw him in the bay. That's what happened ... Does it change the fact that it was in self-defense? No. Is it bizarre and grotesque? Yes, but we're going to explain it to you.

He (Lay) did his best to meet those problems that developed. He didn't have any idea of the depth of the problem until probably after we were into bankruptcy.

Ken did make optimistic statements. What do you expect the CEO to do in a situation like this? He was not lying. He was telling the truth as he saw it. He believed ... and he was fighting a battle.

I think it'll be very helpful to us. It's dynamite cross-examination fodder.

I think we're going to have a case that's largely about accounting allegations...where the government is going to refuse to call either David Duncan, who was the chief engagement partner for Arthur Andersen, or Rick Causey.

I think we need to hurry, but we don't need to rush.

Picking the right jury is the single most important issue (to the trial), and I think we were happily surprised.

It feels like a pretty big deal. It feels like important things are being done.

It'd be damned nice if we knew what case we were going to try. We have no idea what the government is going to try.

We had 2,000 individuals come though our doors. I'm still amazed at what we were able to accomplish.

With the complexity of litigation growing more and more dense, if you will, we are seeing, and we will continue to see, executives who think they are doing the right thing because they consulted with counsel,

Both sides have to have access to witnesses in order to try a case.

We just disagree with being denied a hearing on venue. We are obliged to try to get in front of the issue as quickly as we can so not to put things in more disarray than they already are.

What happened was the odor of the wolf got into the flock, and the flock stampeded.

Everything was done according to the book. Ken Lay never sold one share of stock that wasn't a forced sale.

As soon as Iraq violated the cease-fire, then the U.S. was entitled to say this cease-fire no longer exists. There's no fair argument that Iraq hasn't violated the cease-fire.

I've talked to Rick Causey, and he does not have the willful, knowing, intentional state of mind it takes to commit a crime. If I ever met a guy with a pure heart, it's Rick Causey.

The state's case is all about what happened after, ... righteous shooting.

Some say that Article 51 requires a country to take the first hit. That's clearly not the case here, and Bush has said he won't allow the U.S. to take the first hit with biological or chemical weapons.

As a matter of constitutional interpretation, I think the Constitution is pretty clear that property is to be taken for public use and not private use,

This is a monumental problem. It overshadows all the other problems we have.

They're a well-educated jury, better educated than most.

They're not likely to revisit this soon. Particularly since the outgoing justices, (William) Rehnquist and (Sandra Day) O'Connor, were in the dissent. The changing of personnel is not going to have any effect on this one.

It's a good experience. I was surprise last time at just how engaged and well-educated on the issue the congressmen were. I thought of the hearings as something being just for show. I got the feeling everyone was taking it quite seriously. It was a challenging and educational experience. It's good that they're doing these kinds of things.

It's it hard to believe that a conspiracy of this magnitude was controlled by three people when there were 100 people out there doing the work.

I want to emphasize that there has been no interference with the trial and there won't be whatsoever.

The value of the testimony of such witnesses is about zero.

I have thought from the beginning that the way to handle it was to be as open as possible. Ken has always been a very public man.

If you're stealing from the house, you don't tell the boss.

I don't know if we have ever faced a situation like that before. It was certainly a unique situation...

I don't think he's going to say that he's guilty of something he's not, so I don't think the deal's going to make it. That's based on talking to the guy many times. I just think he's honest.

I don't think he is going to be called.

Currently, we're finding that about 75 percent of potential jurors have anger or deep-seated hatred toward anyone associated with Enron.

Ken Lay has, does and will continue to accept responsibility for the fall of Enron. He was the man at the controls. But failure is not a crime.

You don't characterize CEOs as dealmakers or in any one particular area. An important characteristic of a CEO is leader. That's probably the most important characteristic.

I often think the doctrine of fasting in Lent and having meatless days as old-fashioned...it might be better to give up television.

Reason is an action of the mind; knowledge is a possession of the mind; but faith is an attitude of the person. It means you are prepared to stake yourself on something being so.

The duty of the church is to comfort the disturbed and to disturb the comfortable.

The folks that were coming into the hurricane relief center - many of them just had the clothes on their back.

All of these people are being solicited. If there is anything wrong here, tell us about it, isn't that right? This is not an exact science, is it?