HOUSTON — An Arthur Andersen LLP partner testified Friday that he didn't consider another partner's presentation of the firm's document retention policy last October as an instruction to shred Enron Corp.-related documents.

        Carl Bass is a Houston-based Andersen partner whose criticism of Enron's accounting prompted Enron officials to push to get him barred from consulting with Enron auditors earlier last year. He said another local Andersen partner, Mike Odom, discussed the policy during an Oct. 10 continuing education meeting.

        That was two days before in-house Andersen lawyer Nancy Temple sent Mr. Odom an e-mail from the firm's Chicago headquarters reminding workers of the policy.

        “He did talk about e-mails and stuff like that, but I don't recall the entire presentation,” Mr. Bass said.

        In addition, Mr. Bass said no one ever suggested he get rid of e-mails and other documentation of his disapproval of some accounting approaches that fueled Enron's descent into bankruptcy last year.

        Ms. Temple invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination via mail on Friday.

        In January, she told Congress: “I never counseled any shredding or destruction of documents. I only wish that someone would have raised the question.” The Department of Justice since has told her she is a target in its investigation.

        The firm is on trial for obstruction of justice for shredding documents and deleting computer records related to Enron audits in October and November as the Securities and Exchange Commission investigated the energy company's finances. Andersen claims no one intentionally destroyed Enron-related documents to keep them out of the hands of the SEC.

        Andersen partner Amy Ripepi testified that John Stewart — Mr. Bass' superior and mentor based in Chicago — fretted about whether to discard Enron-related documentation last autumn after being reminded of the document retention policy.

        Mr. Stewart was “reluctant to throw certain documents away and reluctant to keep them,” said Ms. Ripepi, head of Andersen's internal consulting group and Mr. Stewart's boss in Chicago. However, Ms. Ripepi did not indicate if she knew what Mr. Stewart ultimately did with the documents.

        When Ms. Temple twice emphasized compliance with the document retention policy in an Oct. 20 conference call shortly after the SEC announced an informal inquiry into partnerships run by then-chief financial officer Andrew Fastow, Ms. Ripepi said she didn't consider it an invitation to destroy documents.

        Ms. Ripepi, called as a government witness, also testified that even as news of Enron's problems began to swirl in October, she had no reason to believe the SEC would be seeking documentation from Andersen on the matter.

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