- NEW YORK (Reuters)
-- Martha Stewart's bid for a new trial was rejected by a federal judge
who ruled on Wednesday the lifestyle trendsetter received a fair trial
when she was convicted of lying to investigators about a suspicious stock
sale.
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- U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum, in a 23-page
ruling, said that allegations that a juror concealed a previous arrest
on charges of assault are "extremely unfortunate," but did not
justify granting a new trial.
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- Stewart's lawyers argued that the juror's failure to
disclose the event and some of the public statements he made after Stewart's
conviction showed that deliberations in the trial were unfair.
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- The juror, Chappell Hartridge, was the first of the panel
of eight women and four men to speak to reporters immediately after they
convicted Stewart of lying to investigators over the stock sale.
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- Stewart, who built a media empire on tips for gracious
living, was found guilty on March 5 of conspiring with her former Merrill
Lynch stock broker to hide the reason behind her sale of shares in the
biotech company ImClone Systems Inc. on Dec. 27, 2001.
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- She was convicted of one count of conspiracy, two counts
of making false statements and one count of obstruction of agency proceedings.
She is scheduled to be sentenced on June 17 and legal experts believe she
will be sent to prison.
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- Cedarbaum also rejected a motion by Stewart's co-defendant,
former stockbroker Peter Bacanovic, for a new trial.
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- http://news.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5049201
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