Lawyers for Westport’s Martha Stewart today made a new plea for a retrial based on additional findings about one of the jurors who convicted her last month in her stock fraud trial.
According to the papers filed in federal court, juror Chappell Hartridge confessed to embezzling from a Little League organization and admitted to a cocaine habit, but disclosed neither on his jury questionnaire.
The papers also said Hartridge’s son was convicted of attempted robbery in 2000—information Stewart’s lawyers said he specifically omitted from his jury form.
Late last month, Stewart’s lawyers said that Hartridge had lied in failing to disclose a 1997 arrest on charges of assaulting a woman he had been living with.
The defense has argued that it would have moved to have Hartridge stricken from the jury had they known about any of these facts from his past.
The papers asked U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum, who oversaw Stewart’s trial that ended March 5, to grant a second trial or at least a hearing on the Hartridge matter.
Federal prosecutors had no comment today, according to an AP report. But last week, they said the disclosures about Hartridge were not enough to warrant a hearing, much less a new trial.
Stewart was convicted of lying about her sale of a block of biotechnology stock just before it plunged.
She will be sentenced June 17. Legal experts expect her to get 10 to 16 months in prison.
Why every American is not outraged at this travesty of justice is beyond me,The prosecutors were overzealous in there quest to hang Martha.Who is next when they want to get someone for such a small infraction they will.What about Vice President Chaney and his stock sale of Halliburton?kind of gets covered up,Atty Ashcroft and his denials or lies?but lets get Martha.