HOUSTON (CNN) - A defense attorney in the Enron case told CNN Friday he would be surprised if the company's former chief accountant testified for the government, although Richard Causey accepted a plea deal last month.

"I think we're going to have a case that's largely about accounting allegations...where the government is going to refuse to call either David Duncan, who was the chief engagement partner for Arthur Andersen, or Rick Causey," said attorney Michael Ramsey, who is representing Enron founder Ken Lay.

Enron founder Kenneth Lay

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Duncan, Arthur Anderson's lead partner on the Enron account, was fired after the shredding of documents related to collapse of the energy giant came to light. He pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and cooperated with the government's case against his former employer.

Causey changed his plea on charges of securities fraud to guilty in late December, prompting the defense to request a week's delay in the trial, for which jury selection is set to begin Monday.

A judge denied the request earlier this week.

Enron filed for bankruptcy in December 2001 after investigators found it had used partnerships to conceal more than $1 billion in debt and inflate profits.

Defense attorneys, including Ramsey, have publicly asserted that Causey pleaded guilty because of financial duress and they're confident that if he were to testify for the government, his testimony could back up their defense -- that there was no blatant fraud perpetrated by Lay and Skilling.

U.S. District Judge Sim Lake this week also rejected a defense motion to move the trial outside of Enron's hometown of Houston, where the defense argued they could not get an impartial jury.

Ramsey told CNN's "American Morning" he believed a fair trial in Houston is possible if the jury is "brave enough to return an unpopular verdict."

Lay and Enron's former CEO, Jeff Skilling, face charges of fraud and conspiracy.

Both Lay and Skilling maintain they did nothing wrong and had no knowledge of any crimes at Enron. They have pleaded not guilty and their attorneys said they wouldn't consider a plea agreement.

The bankruptcy filing by the company, once the country's seventh-largest, cost 4,000 employees their jobs and many of them their life savings, and led to billions of dollars of losses for investors.

Enron's collapse was the first of many high-profile scandals that rocked WorldCom, Global Crossing, Adelphia Communications and Tyco International. The wave of fraud led to passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation meant to tighten auditing oversight of American companies.

Lay and Skilling's trial was originally set for Jan. 17, but was rescheduled for Jan. 30 after the federal judge granted the defense a delay.

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