NEW YORK – Lifestyle trendsetter Martha Stewart (search) was fairly convicted despite charges that a government witness lied while testifying during her obstruction of justice trial, U.S. prosecutors said in court papers.
Lawyers for Stewart and her former stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic (search), who are due to be sentenced next month, had requested a new trial after prosecutors charged ink expert Larry Stewart with lying repeatedly on the witness stand in February.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan urged U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum (search) to reject Stewart's request.
The government says Larry Stewart, who is not related to Martha Stewart, falsely claimed he participated in ink testing of a stock worksheet prepared by Bacanovic and lied when he said he was familiar with a proposal for a textbook about ink analysis.
Legal experts say the new-trial requests are long shots, mostly because Bacanovic was cleared of a charge of doctoring the worksheet.
Martha Stewart and Bacanovic are scheduled to be sentenced July 8 after being convicted in March of lying about why Stewart sold 3,928 shares of ImClone Systems Inc. (IMCL) stock in 2001. Each is expected to get 10 to 16 months in prison.
Larry Stewart has pleaded not guilty to perjury charges and is scheduled for trial in September.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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