Martha Stewart Verdict: Not a Good Thing

Posted on March 5, 2004

In a shocking verdict, the jury found Martha Stewart guilty of all four charges: conspiracy, obstructing justice and making false statments to investigators. Martha's daughter Alexis, burst into tears as the verdict was read. Sentencing is set for June 17th; the former CEO of Martha Stewart Omnimedia now faces a maximum of twenty years in prison. Martha has stated again that she is innocent of all charges and will file an appeal.

One juror said this is a victory for "the little guy." What a moron. The little guy? Martha was not charged with insider trading or securities fraud. She was not an insider of ImClone. She was charged with lying to investigators about a private sale of stock in a company of which she was not an insider. That one juror's comment tells me that the jury was misled, as Martha's attorneys claimed at the voir dire hearings, repeatedly asking the judge to tell prospective jurors that this was not a securities fraud case.

But Martha's lawyers really blew it, I have to say. They made a major tactical error not putting her on the stand. Jurors are now coming forward saying that they really wanted to hear Martha's side of the story. With only one defense witness, no defendant testimony and the attorney saying that an acquittal would be "a good thing," the defense team looked arrogant and the jury didn't like it.

And that's not a good thing at all.