We've Been Ambushed - Andersen

Lawyers for Arthur Andersen, the accounting firm, came out fighting yesterday as the first criminal trial to emerge from the bankruptcy of US energy trader Enron began.

The jury selection process opened with an unusually large pool of 108 potential jurors packing six rows of benches in the 1960s federal court in downtown Houston.

The difficulties presented by the reach of Enron and Andersen in the local area became apparent when more than one-third disclosed some kind of association with either company.

Another five jurors said they did not believe it was fair that the entire firm should be held accountable for the actions of a few - the basic tenet of the justice department's obstruction of justice case. "It's no defence to say just a few people did this," government lawyers said.

But before the process even began, Rusty Hardin, the urbane, wisecracking Texan acting for Andersen, accused federal prosecutors of attempting to ambush the defence by withholding the witness list. He asked that the defence be given at least three days' notice of who was being called.

"If we are going to do this by ambush then let's at least have a three-day ambush," he said, arguing that the defence would need time to prepare for cross-examination.

Mr Hardin also accused prosecutors of throwing in a "skunk" during the selection process when they asked if anyone had ever been asked to shred documents by their employer to hide them from federal investigators.

Prosecutors listed about 60 potential witnesses, including more than 50 present or former Andersen staff.

David Duncan, the Houston partner who has already pleaded guilty to the destruction of Enron documents, was among those named - as was the Andersen lawyer, Nancy Temple. It was Ms Temple who had sent a reminder of the Andersen document retention and destruction policy that Mr Duncan claimed to have been acting upon.

Mr Hardin, in a tan suit and bright yellow tie, said there had been no further attempts to settle with the justice department over the weekend.

Judge Harmon warned jurors not to be swayed by media coverage as hordes of TV cameras waited outside the courtroom. She is aiming to get the trial over within four weeks.