Finding 12 jurors lacking strong opinions about the celebrity may prove to be difficult.
January 5, 2004: 4:23 PM EST
By Joseph Lee, CNN/Money Staff Writer
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday in the Martha Stewart criminal trial, where the self-made lifestyle maven will try to defend herself against charges of obstruction of justice, making false statements and securities fraud.
Stewart, 62, sold nearly 4,000 shares of Imclose stock Dec. 27, 2001, a day before regulators rejected the company's application for approval of Erbitux, ImClone's experimental cancer drug -- news that send its stock tumbling. She's accused of lying to investigators and the public about the circumstances surrounding that sale.
Stewart has maintained that she didn't have inside information and had a long-standing arrangement with her broker to sell ImClone stock at a certain price. Both Stewart and the broker, Peter Bacanovic, have pleaded innocent to charges of obstruction of justice.
Lawyers from both sides will screen potential jurors carefully, asking questions about their knowledge of the case and whether they like or dislike Stewart, a legal expert said Monday.
http://money.cnn.com/2004/01/05/news/companies/martha/index.htm?cnn=yes
January 5, 2004: 4:23 PM EST
By Joseph Lee, CNN/Money Staff Writer
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday in the Martha Stewart criminal trial, where the self-made lifestyle maven will try to defend herself against charges of obstruction of justice, making false statements and securities fraud.
Stewart, 62, sold nearly 4,000 shares of Imclose stock Dec. 27, 2001, a day before regulators rejected the company's application for approval of Erbitux, ImClone's experimental cancer drug -- news that send its stock tumbling. She's accused of lying to investigators and the public about the circumstances surrounding that sale.
Stewart has maintained that she didn't have inside information and had a long-standing arrangement with her broker to sell ImClone stock at a certain price. Both Stewart and the broker, Peter Bacanovic, have pleaded innocent to charges of obstruction of justice.
Lawyers from both sides will screen potential jurors carefully, asking questions about their knowledge of the case and whether they like or dislike Stewart, a legal expert said Monday.
http://money.cnn.com/2004/01/05/news/companies/martha/index.htm?cnn=yes