- Note - This pathetic side show is yet another exercise
in misdirection. Anyone in the stock business knows
that even if Stewart is guilty of receiving a tip and acting
on it, the simple truth is virtually everyone in the business would do,
or does, the same thing routinely. This ridiculous
persecution is designed to keep the public's limited
attention focused on Martha Stewart and not on the unprecedented -
virtually unimaginable - amounts of theft and corruption
of Enron and too many other outrages to count. The
charges against this baker of cookies should be dismissed
and prosecutors should then go after some of the true criminals
who infest Wall Street and most of the current US government. -ed
-
- NEW YORK (Reuters)
- Martha Stewart's fans may decorate their homes with tips from her lifestyle
magazine and cook her recipes, but that devotion is no guarantee they would
acquit the trendsetter if picked to serve on her jury.
-
- So say legal consultants who, as jury selection for the
Stewart trial got under way, predict that jurors' attitudes, personal experiences
and values will play a much greater role in Stewart's fate than gender,
profession or economic background.
-
- "You might think a woman who enjoys Martha Stewart's
products might be favorable, but you can't bank on it.
-
- Demographics don't make a material difference in this
type of case," said Philip Anthony, chief executive of Los Angeles-based
trial consulting firm Bowne DecisionQuest.
-
- Karen Jo Koonan, senior trial consultant at the National
Jury Project of Oakland, California, agreed. She said some might think
a successful businesswoman would be an ideal juror for Stewart, but that
view could easily backfire.
-
- "One professional woman might feel that women are
picked on in the business world, while another might believe 'I behave
differently than that,"' she said.
-
- Stewart, who became a household name as she built up
a media and lifestyle empire, is charged with crimes stemming from her
2001 sale of almost 4,000 shares of ImClone Systems Inc. IMCL.O> for
$227,000. Prosecutors say she made the trade based on an inside tip that
negative news about the company was imminent. Stewart denies wrongdoing.
-
- Jury selection began on Tuesday when hundreds of potential
jurors arrived at a federal courthouse to answer questionnaires. Oral questioning
of potential jurors is set to begin Jan. 20 with opening statements in
the trial expected at the end of the month.
-
- BEWARE STEREOTYPES
-
- Several prominent consultants who advise lawyers on jury
selection said that demographics and stereotypes of potential panelists
may have little bearing in this case because of some unique elements --
among them that Stewart is not actually charged with insider trading.
-
- Instead, she faces trial for obstruction of justice and
securities fraud based on accusations that she lied to regulators and the
public about her trading.
-
- Because the core crime is inferred, consultants say how
jurors judge Stewart will greatly depend on how they view the world, not
whether they like her Kmart sheets or recipes.
-
- In particular, they agreed that defense lawyers should
try to eliminate potential jurors who are rigid in their beliefs.
-
- Jeffrey Frederick, director of Jury Research for the
National Legal Research Group in Charlottesville, Virgina, said an ideal
juror for prosecutors will be a person who thinks in "black and white
terms" and who would convict a defendant for "violating the letter
of the law" regardless of the situation.
-
- "For those types, there's not a great distinction,"
agreed Bowne DecisionQuest's Anthony.
-
- Koonan said she would also advise the defense to eliminate
potential jurors who have attitudes that suggest they think "you create
your own problems in this world" and so might be predisposed to thinking
she brought her woes upon herself rather than being victimized for being
a celebrity.
-
- Another dangerous type of juror for Stewart is one who
believes "no one ever did anything for me...why should she get special
treatment," added Anthony.
-
- He said that jurors who might be in her camp would be
those who faced adversity in their own lives and succeeded. "They've
persevered and done well. Subconsciously they believe, She did what I did
and she's a hero to me."
-
- The consultants said the defense team should also seek
jurors who feel they have been singled out for mistreatment or know anyone
who was wrongfully accused of a crime.
-
- Frederick said that although Stewart's demeanor often
generates negative publicity, her celebrity may work in her favor. He said
some jurors may see it as the reason for her prosecution because "other
people who have committed greater wrongdoing are not facing the same type
of situation."
-
-
-
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