The stock fraud trial of Westport’s Martha Stewart heard testimony today from her business manager that the sale of ImClone shares was small potatoes compared to other matters Stewart had on her plate.

Heidi DeLuca, who worked in the Westport office of Stewart’s media company, said she oversaw millions of dollars in Stewart’s personal and corporate accounts and played down the sale of almost 4,000 shares of ImClone and its much smaller value.

The intent by the defense was to show that because of the relatively smaller amount involved in ImClone, it was not unusual for Stewart not to be able to recall with clarity every detail about the sale.

Meanwhile, it was not clear as testimony in the trial resumed today whether Judge Miriam Cedarbaum would throw out the most serious charge against Stewart—securities fraud—which accuses her of deceiving investors in her media conglomerate.

The business manager for Westport’s Martha Stewart testified today that her broker thought ImClone Systems Inc. was “a dog’’ and wanted her to sell the stock six weeks before she unloaded her shares.

The testimony supports Stewart’s claim that she did not unload her ImClone stock because of “a secret tip’’ company founder Sam Waksal was dumping his shares, as prosecutors contend.

The government says Stewart and Peter Bacanovic, her Merrill Lynch & Co. broker, conspired to hide the reason she sold a day before ImClone announced that regulators had rejected the company’s new cancer drug.

Heidi DeLuca, a business manager for both Stewart and her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., offered jurors an explanation for her boss’s stock sale that is consistent with defense claims of a prior agreement to sell when ImClone dipped below $60.

The federal judge in the stock fraud trial of Westport’s Martha Stewart said today she will reserve decision on an application by the defense to dismiss part of the charges against her.

U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum had appeared particularly interested in the possibility of throwing out the securities fraud count against
Stewart.

It accuses her of deceiving investors in her media conglomerate,
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

“I reserve decision on all the motions to dismiss,” Cedarbaum told the court after hearing arguments from lawyers for Stewart, broker Peter Bacanovic and prosecutors.

She said she needed more time to consider the motions and asked attorneys to provide some past court decisions that might help her make her ruling.

The government rested its case against Westport’s Martha Stewart and her stockbroker today after a critical prosecution witness Westport real estate agent Mariana Pasternak—wavered slightly about testimony that had damaged Stewart.

Prosecutors called 21 witnesses over 14 days in the case. But whether the jury will hear from Stewart, or even deliberate on one of the charges against her, will remain a mystery until at least next week.

U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum said she would rule Monday on a motion by Stewart attorney Robert Morvillo to dismiss some or all the charges against his client—although she indicated that throwing out all the charges was unlikely.

Morvillo was particularly concerned about the charge of securities fraud, which the judge termed “the most problematic” in the indictment against Stewart.

It was Westporter vs Westporter at Martha Stewart’s stock fraud trial today.

Stewart’s close friend and fellow Westporter Mariana Pasternak testified that just days after selling her ImClone Systems stock, Stewart said she knew that ImClone CEO Sam Waksal had been trying to dump his shares in the company.

The revelation by Pasternak, a friend of Stewart for more than 20 years, was perhaps the most damaging testimony yet against Stewart, who claims she sold the stock for an entirely different reason.

One reporter said Pasternak seemed relaxed, answering questions in her clipped accent and smiling frequently. Another said Stewart “glared” at Pasternak as she wound up her testimony.

A third wrote that “Stewart kept her eyes glued on Pasternak.”

Pasternak said Stewart told her about the Waksal sale on Dec. 30, 2001, just three days after Stewart sold her 3,928 shares of ImClone. The pair were on a terrace at a Mexican resort where they were vacationing.

“I remember Martha saying Sam was walking funny at the Christmas party, that he was selling or trying to sell his stock, that his daughter was selling or trying to sell her stock,’’ Pasternak testified.

Christie’s Country Store, a fixture on Westport’s Cross Highway for almost eight decades, has changed hands again. The Town Clerk’s office reported the property at 161 Cross Highway was sold by Cross Highway LLC to Sasco III LLC, whose principals include Bob Corroon of Fairfield, for $1.1 million. The store for many years was run by Christie Masiello before her death at the age of 88 in 1989. Westport’s HK Group, which represented the buyer and seller, said this was the the fourth sale of the property in the last 15 years. The previous one was recorded in February 2002. WestportNow.com photo

Prosecutors in the trial of Westport’s Martha Stewart today tried to prove that she tried to prop up the value of her own company by lying to her investors about why she sold ImClone Systems stock.

Jurors saw a bright red chart of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia stock that showed brief spikes in the price after Stewart ssued two statements in June 2002 denying wrongdoing in the ImClone investigation.

In both statements, she denied receiving advance word on Dec. 27, 2001, just before she dumped ImClone stock, that the government would decline to review ImClone’s cancer-fighting drug.

The government never charged her with insider trading.

A federal judge overseeing the stock fraud trial of Westport’s Martha Stewart today limited the government’s effort to prove Stewart and her stockbroker conspired to lie about her sale of ImClone Systems stock.

The judge blocked prosecutors from putting into evidence a voice mail that broker Peter Bacanovic left for Stewart on Feb. 4, 2002, the day she was first interviewed by the government in the ImClone investigation.

“The fact that he tried to contact her really isn’t evidence of anything, other than that they talked to each other sometimes,” U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum said.

By Fran

Speaking as a Westport homebody who would rather vacation at home than just about anywhere, even I can use a change of scene right about now.

The only ones seem to be having any outdoor fun around here are the dogs on Compo Beach. If you can get away, its definitely time to leave town.

And who knows ҅ when you get back there may even be daffodils at Trader Joes.
Prime Time Shuttle will pick you up at the train station or Westport Inn for $48 for the airport trip. Contributed photo

Here is the cost of a one-way trip from your home in Westport to LaGuardia Airport. Prices include tolls but not gratuities:

Limousine and Taxi Services:

Norwalk Car Service   $84
853-1267

Norwalk Taxi   $89
855-1764