Duncan Denies Ordering Enron Shredding

David Duncan, the sacked Arthur Andersen partner, yesterday told the federal court in Houston he had not told his 100-strong staff to "destroy" Enron-related documents.

In a testimony that appeared to strengthen the case for Andersen in its obstruction of justice trial, Mr Duncan said he mentioned his firm's document retention policy during a 30-minute "pep talk" to the audit team last October but did not order destruction of material. Mr Duncan, who ran the Enron audit business, has pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and is the government's star witness.

"I didn't want them to do anything more or less than comply with the policy, but I wanted them to work toward that end," he said. "I was probably more focused on the notion of getting rid of extraneous information."

Earlier the judge said she would review alleged inconsistencies between government summaries of interviews with Mr Duncan and his testimony this week. The defence has tried to discredit Mr Duncan and show he pleaded guilty to reduce his time in prison.

Judge Melinda Harmon erupted on Thursday, criticising the "underhand" tactics of the defence. Defence lawyer Rusty Hardin said to her: "Your bias toward us is clearly reflected in your outburst. For you to impugn my integrity and our effort, I deeply resent it." The judge replied: "Well resent away," and stormed out.