| Martha stewart seeks retrial after government perjury Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=peopleNews&storyID=5396195http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=peopleNews&storyID=5396195
Martha Stewart Seeks Retrial After Witness Charged Thu Jun 10, 2004 04:02 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lifestyle trendsetter Martha Stewart has asked a federal judge for a new trial because her guilty verdict was "corroded" by a government witness who lied on the stand, court papers revealed on Thursday. The demand for a new trial comes a day after a grand jury indicted U.S. Secret Service laboratory director Larry Stewart on charges of falsely testifying that he carried out tests on a key document in the trial.
Larry Stewart is no relation to Ms. Stewart, who was convicted on March 5 of conspiring with her stockbroker to lie about a suspicious stock trade..
Ms. Stewart's sentencing has been delayed for three weeks to allow U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum time to review the request.
Prosecutors have said the perjury charges against the Secret Service lab director would not affect the convictions and that the test results are still valid.
In a much anticipated motion, Ms. Stewart's lawyers said "the government's election to call Larry Stewart as a witness and to present his testimony at trial produced error of constitutional dimension in several respects, requiring that the convictions be vacated and a new trial ordered."
If the request is denied, Judge Cedarbaum will decide on July 8 whether the celebrity homemaker will go to prison for conspiring with her broker Peter Bacanovic to cover up the reasons behind a suspicious stock sale of ImClone Systems Inc., a biotech company run by a friend.
In a 25-page brief, Ms. Stewart's lawyers argued, "there can be no denying that Mr. Stewart's perjury was material."
"Simply stated, a verdict that rests upon such a corroded foundation cannot stand."
Stewart turned a small catering company into the multimedia firm Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia . On March 15, she resigned as a board member and officer of the company.
On May 10, the company said it may face further operating losses, additional litigation and the loss of key employees as a result of Stewart's criminal conviction.
An earlier motion by Stewart for a retrial, based on statements made by a juror, was denied.
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