Rigas Trial Begins This Week

Jury selection begins this week in New York in the trial of former Adelphia Communications Corp. executives John Rigas and his two sons. The Rigases are accused, along with former Adelphia executive Michael Mulcahey, of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars by illegally taking money out of the cable company, defrauding investors and misleading government regulators. All have pleaded not guilty. The primary issue will be a loan that the Rigas family made to itself that was guaranteed by Adelphia. The government also alleges that under the Rigas family Adelphia inflaced its reported subscriber base and exaggerated the amount of its cable network that had been upgraded. In a pre-trial argument last week, U.S. Attorney Christopher Clark said he will present documents and electronic displays. U.S. District Judge Leonard Sand, who is presiding over the case, denied a motion by Micheal Rigas' attorney. Andrew Levander, that would have admitted results of a 2002 lie-detector test. Jury selection is expected to take about a week. The judge has said he hopes opening arguments will commence around March 1.