Skilling Attorney Wants Supreme Court To Hear Case

The attorney for former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling says he will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, now that an appellate court has denied his request to re-hear the case.

Daniel Petrocelli says there is "a raging conflict" in the lower court's ruling, and "only the Supreme Court can settle it."

David J. Phillip / AP Former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

A three-judge panel on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals last month upheld Skilling's 2006 conviction in the Enron scandal, and this week, the appeals court denied Petrocelli's request for a hearing before the full court.

Petrocelli had argued Skilling should not have been convicted of depriving Enron shareholders of his "honest services," since all of Skilling's actions were aimed at trying to save the company.

The panel rejected that argument, but did rule that Skilling's 24 year sentence was too harsh. The panel also noted what it termed "troubling" conduct by prosecutors in the case, but ruled the conduct did not warrant a new trial.

Skilling was convicted on 19 criminal counts in Enron's collapse. He is a little more than two years into his sentence, currently at a federal prison in Colorado.

Here is Petrocelli's full statement to CNBC:

"We are preparing our petition to the Supreme Court. There is a raging conflict in the courts about the "honest services" theory of criminality used in Jeff's case. Only the Supreme Court can settle it." 

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