Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States
Arthur Andersen LLP was convicted of witness tampering under 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b). The 5th Circuit upheld the conviction, despite Andersen's claims that prosecution did not enter evidence about the numerous documents Andersen did not destroy, that the judge allowed improper evidence of past SEC investigations of Andersen, and that the judge misrepresented the offense in the jury instructions with regards to actual knowledge that certain actions constituted a crime under the circumstances and timing of the commission of the actions. Andersen again challenges the conviction, this time before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties
Whether Arthur Andersen LLP's conviction for witness tampering under 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b) must be reversed because the jury instructions upheld by the Fifth Circuit misinterpreted the elements of the offense, in conflict with decisions of the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeals for the First, Third, and D.C. Circuits.
In June of 2002, Arthur Andersen LLP ("Andersen") was convicted in a jury trial in the U.S. District Court in Houston, Texas, of "corruptly persuading" employees to destroy Enron-related documents in anticipation of an SEC investigation (see indictment for details of the charges and 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b) for the applicable law).