Former Enron CEO Is Ejected From Courtroom

Jeffrey K. Skilling, former chief executive of Enron Corp., was ordered to leave a courtroom where five former executives of the company’s broadband division are on trial.

The fraud trial in U.S. District Court in Houston was halted until Skilling, who may be called as a witness, could be removed under a rule that bars prospective witnesses from hearing other testimony in a trial.

Later, former Enron Broadband CEO Ken Rice, testifying for the government, implicated four of five defendants on trial for securities fraud.

Rice testified that the four men told analysts at a January 2000 conference that Enron Broadband’s network software performed better than it did. Rice, who has pleaded guilty to fraud, said they lied to prop up Enron’s stock price.