[JURIST] The retrial of two Enron [JURIST news archive] broadband executives on conspiracy and fraud charges is set to begin Tuesday, nearly a year after a jury acquitted five former executives [JURIST report] on some charges and failed to reach a verdict on several others. Lawyers for former accountant Michael Krautz and former CFO Kevin Howard [Houston Chronicle profiles] argued that it would be impossible to impanel a fair jury due to coverage of the criminal trial of Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling next door at the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas [official website], but District Judge Vanessa Gilmore ordered jury selection to go ahead as scheduled on Tuesday.

Both men are charged [PDF indictment] with one count of conspiracy and falsifying records and three counts of wire fraud. They were reindicted in November [JURIST report] on fewer charges stemming from allegations that they illegally put millions in profits on the books of the company in late 2000 and early 2001. Retrials for three other former executives are scheduled to begin later this year. AP has more.