Subject: judge rejects enron request to halt legislative subpoena
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sent : wednesday , august 29 , 2001 8 : 38 pm
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subject : rahil jafry : judge rejects enron request to halt legislative
subpoena
judge rejects enron request to halt legislative subpoena
by jennifer coleman
08 / 29 / 2001
associated press newswires
copyright 2001 . the associated press . all rights reserved .
sacramento ( ap ) - a sacramento superior court judge rejected energy
company enron ' s request to quash a subpoena issued by a state senate
committee investigating possible price manipulation in california ' s
energy market .
judge charles kobayashi denied two of enron ' s three motions wednesday
in tentative rulings , saying the court had no right to interfere with a
legislative subpoena .
enron sued the senate select committee to investigate market
manipulation in july to stop the subpoena of its financial and
electricity trading records . among its objections were that only the
federal energy regulatory commission has the authority to investigate
wholesale markets .
the committee has sought documents from six energy companies as they
investigate last year ' s price spikes in the wholesale electricity
market .
in his tentative ruling on enron ' s motion asking for a protective
order , kobayashi said he was " sympathetic to enron ' s concern for
safeguarding its trade secret information . "
but he added that the court couldn ' t assume the committee would
divulge the confidential documents and enron ' s constitutional rights
weren ' t " jeopardized by delivery of their secrets to the document
depository . "
on the other motion , to quash the subpoena , the judge found the
committee did follow proper procedure when serving enron officials .
attorneys for the committee and enron will return to court thursday
on the tentative rulings . kobayashi set a court date for sept . 7 on the
third motion , which is a request for an injunction of the committee ' s
investigation and contempt proceedings .
enron officials didn ' t immediately return calls from the associated
press seeking comment .
enron officials have said the company is prepared to turn over 25 , 000
documents that were already in california , but that other documents the
committee wants are in texas and out of the panel ' s reach .
the committee found enron in contempt for not turning over the
documents . a full report on the contempt finding has been sent to the
full senate , which has not voted on it . a contempt report on reliant
energy has also been sent to the senate .
a contempt finding against mirant corp . was later reversed when the
company opened a document depository in sacramento for the committee ' s
investigators .
if the full senate imposes sanctions against reliant or enron , it
will be the first time since 1929 , when the senate voted to jail
reluctant witnesses during a committee investigation of price fixing and
price gouging allegations involving cement sales to the state .
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