Prosecutors getting ready for Januarys trial of WestportҒs Martha Stewart on federal criminal charges related to insider trading have suffered a setback.
The prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge John E. Sprizzo to delay civil cases against Stewart, arguing that the litigation could damage their criminal obstruction of justice case, according to the AP.
In denying their request, the judge said Martha Stewart is no John Gotti.
In public documents obtained Wednesday, Sprizzo ruled prosecutors cannot stop civil lawyers from interviewing 15 witnesses. Prosecutors claim the interviews will give Stewart’s criminal defense lawyers an unfair advantage.
“This is not the strongest obstruction case I have ever seen, just going by your own U.S. attorney’s comments on it,” Sprizzo, who is presiding over the civil cases, told lead criminal prosecutor Karen Seymour at a Sept. 30 hearing. “This is not John Gotti.”
Gotti, who died last year, presided over the Gambino crime family before he was prosecuted on charges that put him in prison for life.
Stewart has pleaded innocent to charges of obstruction of justice and securities fraud. Her criminal trial is set to begin Jan. 12. No date has been set for the civil trial.
