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A federal appeals court upheld the obstruction-of-justice conviction of Martha Stewart, the homemaking entrepreneur who went to jail for lying to federal authorities probing her stock sale.
Stewart, the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., has completed her sentence after spending five months in prison and five months in home confinement at her Bedford, N.Y., estate.
The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York turned aside Stewart's claim that she was wrongly convicted because of errors by the trial judge. The panel also refused to order a hearing into whether a juror was biased, as Stewart requested. The ruling means she will not get a new trial and remains a convicted felon.
"It's just the final chapter in a long saga and it's somewhat anticlimactic," said John Carney, a former federal prosecutor now at Baker & Hostetler. "Martha Stewart couldn't have had much faith in her own success, seeing that she agreed to go to prison rather than wait for the outcome of her appeal."
Stewart, 63, and her former Merrill Lynch & Co. broker Peter Bacanovic were convicted in March 2004 of lying to authorities investigating her December 2001 sale of ImClone Systems Inc. stock. Before her appeal, Stewart chose to enter the women's prison in Alderson, W.Va., saying she wanted to "put this nightmare behind me."
The appeals court also upheld Bacanovic's conviction.
In a 74-page opinion, a three-judge panel rejected claims that there was misconduct by prosecutors and a juror; that Stewart and Bacanovic were denied their right to confront witnesses; and that the trial judge made improper legal rulings.
One issue was whether the judge should have held a hearing after learning, following Stewart's conviction, that juror Chappell Hartridge lied during jury selection.
Hartridge falsely answered questions about whether he'd been previously charged with a crime or sued, including failing to disclose that he was arrested for assaulting his girlfriend.
Bloomberg
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