Skilling claims Enron trial was flawed

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, convicted of charges related to the world's most famous and largest corporate fraud case, will argue in his appeal that the legal theory used to convict him contained "an error that infected the entire trial," his attorney told CNN Friday.

Daniel Petrocelli, the lawyer representing Skilling, filed a motion in the appeals case in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Friday.

"Skilling was indicted under an erroneous legal theory that shortly following his trial was categorically denounced by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals," he told CNN. "That ruling applies to Jeff's case and, in our view, requires a reversal of every count of conviction."

He said the prosecution's case "sought to criminalize non-criminal conduct" and was fundamentally flawed. For example, he said, the prosecution's legal theory called into question "the wisdom of business transaction or business judgments."

"This is what we see in civil cases, and even then, these kinds of cases are largely unsuccessful and they have no place whatsoever in a criminal case," he added.

Friday's court motion was not the final brief filing but merely a request to exceed the 59,000-word limit on the length of the brief imposed by the court. That request requires the submission of the brief itself. The formal brief filing is not officially due until Sept. 15, according to Petrocelli and the court clerk.

Of Skilling's present condition, Petrocelli said, "Jeff worked very hard and very closely with us in his appeal and he is very hopeful about the prospects about a complete reversal, as are we.

"Under the circumstances, he's doing remarkably well. He's very relieved about getting this filing behind us. ... He's in very good health and good spirits given his circumstances."

Skilling was sentenced last October to 24 years and 4 months in prison.

The Enron accounting scheme Skilling was convicted of orchestrating artificially boosted the company's value to shareholders. The scheme fell apart and Enron claimed bankruptcy in December 2001, resulting in its stock becoming nearly worthless, costing investors billions of dollars and throwing more than 4,000 Enron employees out of work.

Enron's collapse marked the first of the high-profile corporate scandals that rocked the nation after the 1990s economic boom. It was followed by WorldCom, Global Crossing, Adelphia and Tyco. The wave of fraud led to passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which tightened oversight of how American companies are audited.

--CNN's John Sears contributed to this report.