Ms Martha Stewart was branded a liar by federal prosecutors yesterday but was defended by her lawyer as a self-made businesswoman facing criminal charges based on nothing more than speculation and guesswork.
Ms Stewart (62) listened intently as federal prosecutor Ms Karen Patton Seymour and defence attorney Mr Robert Morvillo delivered opening statements in the long-awaited trial of the woman who turned a catering business into a media empire.
Ms Seymour, who addressed the jury of eight women and four men first, said Ms Stewart's reputation and the stock price of her multimedia company would have been severely damaged if the truth surfaced about an illegal inside tip from her broker.
The prosecutor said Ms Stewart and Mr Peter Bacanovic, her former Merrill Lynch broker and a co-defendant in the case, chose "to lie to investigators and come up with a cover-up, a false story" about the sale of shares in ImClone Systems, a biotech company founded by her friend, Mr Sam Waksal.
"Martha Stewart was central to the success of her company," Ms Seymour said, telling jurors that Ms Stewart stood to lose some $30 million (€23.8 million) if the stock price collapsed. She said Ms Stewart tried to mislead investors about the trade to halt the growing storm of negative publicity.
Ms Stewart has denied the charges but could face 10 years in prison if convicted of securities fraud.
