Article #2 is from today's
NY Post:
STEWART JURY TEACHES WALL STREET SOME LESSONS
By TERRY KEENAN
March 7, 2004 -- THE jury has spoken in the Martha Stewart case. Stewart rolled the dice in Federal Court and lost big time.
Here now, a few lessons from the Trial of the Decade on Wall Street:
* Celebrity doesn't trump the law. Jurors in this case say they weren't swayed by Martha's fame and fortune. In fact, the real diva (and not in the pejorative sense) in Courtroom 110 was Judge Miriam Goldman Cederbaum who captivated the jurors' attention and respect. No doubt, the eight women and four men on the panel followed Cederbaum's instructions on the law to the letter and were more concerned about disappointing Cederbaum than they were Stewart.
* Celebrity friends do not make good courtroom accessories. Ironically Stewart, whose affinity for socialite scientist Sam Waksal got her into this mess in the first place, thought quick cameos by friends like Rosie O'Donnell and Bill Cosby would sway the jury. After the verdict, jurors said the celebrity visits had, if anything, a negative effect.
* Don't attack the Attorney General in Federal Court. Stewart's attorney Robert Morvillo took pot shots at Attorney General John Ashcroft in both his opening and closing arguments to the jury, asking them to send a message that the Stewart prosecution was overly aggressive. The jurors sent a message, alright. Juror No. 8 said the verdict "sends a message to bigwigs in corporations they have to abide by the law"
* Jury consultants can get it wrong. Stewart reportedly spent upwards of $1 million on jury and image consultants. In the end, her so-called dream jury dominated by older upper-middle-class women weren't so sympathetic after all.
* It wasn't all about the star witness. Stewart's and Peter Bacanovic's lawyers spent the bulk of their time attacking the credibility of key government witness Doug Faneuil, whom they called "the living example of reasonable doubt." But in the end, juror Chappell Hartridge said, it was the testimony of Stewart's teary-eyed assistant, Ann Armstrong, that was the most compelling.
* When putting on a defense, at least look like your trying. Stewart's big-bucks attorney delivered only a 20-minute defense for the domestic defendant. Jurors who devoted seven weeks of their lives to the case said Stewart's one-witness defense made a "joke of the jury." Dennis Kozlowski are you listening?
* Even high-priced lawyers can make mistakes. Martha Stewart's legal team was supposed to be the best defense money can buy, but Morvillo's closing arguments backfired. His argument that Stewart and Baconovic were "too smart to have done something so dumb" was, in fact, the very definition of most white-collar criminals.
* Watch out what you ask for. In his summation, Morvillo asked jurors not to compromise by convicting Stewart on some felony counts and not on others. In his all-or-nothing bid for full acquital, Morvillo got a clean sweep, alright - convictions on all counts.
TERRY KEENAN is senior business correspondent and anchor of Cashin' In, an investing program that appears on Fox News Channel on Saturday mornings at 11:30. E-mail terry.keenan@foxnews.com.
Not a bad summary by the NYP, although they're a bit harsh on Morvillo (who is at a distinct disadvantage here since he can't reveal details of his advice to her and her reluctance to accept it). It's not easy to represent a client like Stewart. She dug a deep, deep grave for herself, jumped into it, pulled the earth over her, then insisted that Morvillo undo all that.