By Alabama Public Radio
Birmingham, AL – The criminal trial of former HealthSouth C-E-O Richard Scrushy will begin this week in Birmingham. Prosecutors say he orchestrated a conspiracy to overstate company profits by two-point-six billion dollars. Jury selection is set to begin Wednesday, and opening statements are scheduled to be made on January 18th. Meanwhile, Scrushy's lawyers want a high profile journalist to testify. Scrushy spoke with "60 Minutes" correspondent Mike Wallace in 2003 about the fraud allegations involving HealthSouth. The interview aired in October of that year, and C-B-S rebroadcast it last August. Scrushy's attorneys have subpoenaed Wallace and C-B-S producer Robert Anderson to discuss the interview. But Wallace and Anderson have asked the federal judge to throw it out, saying the First Amendment protects their right to interview Scrushy and they have no new information concerning the trial.