Wittig, Lake trial delay likely because of new attorneys
Topeka ? The third trial of two former Westar Energy Inc. executives charged with conspiring to loot the utility, scheduled for January, likely will be delayed as new defense attorneys join the four-year-old case, a federal judge said Wednesday.
Patrick McInerney, a former federal prosecutor based in Kansas City, Mo., told U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson that he was ready to begin taking over the defense of Douglas Lake, Westar’s former chief strategy officer.
Lake and David Wittig, the Topeka-based utility’s former chief executive, are charged with one count of conspiracy and more than a dozen counts each of circumvention of internal controls.
Lake’s current defense attorneys have asked for permission to withdraw from the case after a long-running dispute with Westar over paying their legal fees.
The company is fighting Robinson’s June 28 requirement that it pay more than $3 million in fees generated during two earlier trials. Westar is obligated to pay the fees under agreements Lake and Wittig signed with the company before being forced out in late 2002.
Westar has agreed to pay Lake’s future legal fees, but only at rates charged by local attorneys.