The son of a poor, itinerant preacher, he won a scholarship to the University of Missouri, made influential friends, earned a doctorate in economics and even did a tour in Washington as an Energy Department official. During Enron's waning years, he earned $220 million.

So, just a nice guy with his head in the sand? Not according to his critics, who point out "...disclosures that he quietly unloaded $70 million worth of Enron shares to pay personal loans at the same time he urged others to buy."

His codefendant Jeff Skilling spent the last eight days on the witness stand.

The Government presented no smoking gun against either Lay or Skilling. Ultimately, it will be a credibility call for the jury.

The government's case is heavy on witness testimony, with some 22 people taking the stand against Skilling and Lay, but light on documents. With no one piece of paper clearly linking the men to a crime, it's the words spoken on the stand -- and the credibility of the people behind them -- that will make or break the case.

Lawyers rate Skilling's testimony here. If you want to keep up with Lay's testimony during the day, check out the Houston Chronicle Enron blog which has commentary from lawyers inside the courtroom.