Posted on: Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Ex-WorldCom chief benefits from ruling

By Brooke A. Masters
Washington Post

NEW YORK — In a last round of legal skirmishes before the trial of former WorldCom Inc. Chief Executive Bernard Ebbers gets under way, U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones ruled yesterday that Ebbers' lawyers may question the prosecution's star witness about alleged marital infidelities.

The decision was a boost for the defense, which will try to raise questions about the credibility and character of the witness, former WorldCom chief financial officer Scott Sullivan.

Sullivan pleaded guilty in March to misclassifying expenses to pump up the bottom line of WorldCom. His testimony is expected to be crucial to the government's efforts to convict Ebbers, 63, of conspiracy, securities fraud and filing false documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission. WorldCom declared bankruptcy in 2002 after revealing an $11 billion accounting fraud and now does business as MCI Inc. of Ashburn.

Jones ruled that hearing about Sullivan's alleged infidelity would help jurors determine whether he is truthful and that Ebbers' lawyers are "entitled to very wide latitude" when cross-examining the chief witness against him. Since Ebbers rarely used e-mail, Sullivan's descriptions of their conversations may be the government's best evidence of what Ebbers knew about the telecommunication company's accounting.

The ruling came at a motions hearing held one day before prospective jurors will come into U.S. District Court to begin filling out questionnaires.

Two blocks down the street at Manhattan Supreme Court, jury selection began yesterday for the retrial of former Tyco International Ltd. Chief Executive L. Dennis Kozlowski and former Chief Financial Officer Mark Swartz.