NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling today appealed a judge's rejection of their motion to move their trial outside of Houston, where they say they could not get an impartial jury.

Attorneys for the defense filed an appeal of U.S. District Judge Sim Lake's decision earlier this week to keep the case in Enron's hometown. Lay's and Skilling's attorneys will also ask the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to halt the trial if Lake refuses to halt its scheduled start date of January 30.

Enron founder Kenneth Lay

The ruling by Judge Lake was the second time he had denied defense requests to move the trial from Houston. Defense lawyers argued that lingering anger from Enron's collapse and heavy publicity in the city would influence the trials. (Full story)

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