Former HP Chair Dunn Indicted

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has charged former Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) Chairwoman Patricia Dunn and others involved in the company's spying scandal with four felony counts, including wire fraud and conspiracy. "One of our state's most venerable corporate institutions lost its way," said Lockyer at a press conference on Oct. 4 announcing the charges in the month-old scandal.

The indictments give Chief Executive Officer Mark Hurd and the company reason to breathe easier, even as they await word from the Justice Dept., which is conducting its own investigation into the case. But they also send a strong message to Corporate America, which is still trying to pick its way through a post-Enron landscape that remains riddled with regulatory and ethical mines.