Stewart Loses Bid to Nullify Verdict
A federal appeals court Friday upheld the conviction of Martha Stewart for lying to investigators about her sale of stock whose price plunged soon afterward. Stewart completed her sentence in the case last summer but pursued the appeal anyway.
The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York upheld the 2004 convictions of Stewart and ex-stockbroker Peter Bacanovic for lying about why Stewart sold nearly 4,000 shares of ImClone Systems Inc. in 2001. The sale came just before the stock sank on a negative government report about the drug company.
Stewart, 64, and Bacanovic, 43, had claimed the verdict was tainted by prosecutorial and juror misconduct, improper influences on the jury and flawed evidentiary rulings and jury instructions.
Stewart served five months in prison and five months of home detention. Bacanovic finished his five-month prison term last year as well.
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