So now I'm SYMPATHISING with Martha? Can the apocalypse be far off?
Damnit I never thought this day would come...
I'm actually quite disturbed by Martha Stewart's conviction. Maybe it's just me, but did they actually have a case against her?
Stewart was convicted of obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and lying to the U.S. government, after the jury found she wasn’t being truthful about the circumstances of the sale of about 4,000 shares of ImClone stock
So they get her on the periphery, based on her conduct during the investigation, but not for the actual crime itself? Hmmmm.
Well, that's easy to understand. I mean actually proving an Insider Trading charge is always a circumstantial exercise at best. Much easier to lean on someone and then watch for the slightest omission or fib...
A related article has details on what the jury was thinking.
And it appears they were trying to send her a message she couldn’t have heard any other way. “Maybe it's a victory for the little guys who lose money in the market because of these kinds of transactions,” explains juror Chappell Hartridge about the verdict.
Who is this freakin' "little guy" I keep hearing so damn much about? I know that Arthur Carlson was the "big guy", so they must mean either Herb or Les... So this "little guy" is blaming Martha for the cycle of fear and greed that blows every would-be speculator out of the water at the end of the speculative bubble that was the roaring 90's.
Stewart refused to take the stand in her own defence, which she was under no obligation to do. But the jury took notice of the omission. “I would have liked to have heard from her,” Hartridge admits. “I would have loved to have heard the other side of the story.”
Wonderful this "presumed innocent" thing isn't it? So they assume that because Martha doesn't get herself in harm's way by opening herself up to cross-examination in court she must be hiding something...
Did nobody tell the jury that the government has to make its case on its own? That a defendant doesn't have to take the stand and that this shouldn't be construed as guilt or innocence?
Bueller?
Bueller?
Andrew Cohen at CBS has some thoughts:
In an "Alice in Wonderland" twist of the law, Martha Stewart was convicted Friday of trying to cover up conduct that isn't a crime. She was convicted of being greedy and of being cheap. She was convicted of having a bad memory and of being arrogant. She was convicted of acting scared and using terrible judgment. She was convicted because she played things too cute by half with federal investigators when they asked her about the December 2001 sale of her Imclone stock. She was stupid and today the jury made her a convict.
Martha is actually the perfect target for such a prosecution: Her detractors hate her so much that they will celebrate any misfortune that befalls her, even if the prosecution was shoddy and the evidence sparse.
Her supporters are more concerned with tea-cosies and pot-pourri.
A much bigger OUCH for Martha:
Stewart also will lose her property. The fines imposed upon her are petty cash compared to her assets but the conviction also means that she'll no longer be able to formally control the company that bears her name: Martha Stewart Omnimedia Living, Inc. Like a crime boss, she'll be relegated to trying to run the "family business" from a jail cell, issuing furtive orders like Al Capone or John Gotti.
So you get Martha Stewart Omnimedia with no chance of Martha at the helm.
I'm not a Martha cheerleader, but this scares me. And it should scare you too.
But the biggest and clearest lesson is precisely the one that the feds hoped we all would learn from this case. It is that the government can target anyone, even the most popular and successful among us, and bring about a successful prosecution with even the fluffiest of evidence. There were no victims here. No bloodshed. The world isn't safer today than it was yesterday. Martha Stewart is going to jail because she didn't level to investigators about a telephone call that any investor would love to get and that many investors do get every day in this country. The only difference between her and them is that the feds decided to make an example of her. It worked. She's done. Watch out.
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Oh no, now I'm sympathizing with her, too. NOOOO!!! :D