[lbo-talk] Martha Stewart, political prisoner

[andie nachgeborenen]

Securities fraud laws are aimed at real and considerable evils, unlike the obstruction laws, which are mere bargaining chips for the US Attorney. Some on the right (Judge Easterbrook of the 7th Cir. and the U of C comes to mind) have defended legalization of insider trading as policy, but I disagree with them/him, and at any rate it is illegal, and indeed a crime. It's true that statistically speaking a federal indictment is tantamount to a conviction. She'll probably cop a plea to the obstruction count, see if she can walk with probation and an agreement to step down from her company. That's my guess as a criminal defense lawyer who defends people like her. One thing to think about: she will have an absolutely top notch defense team, probably with a former US Atty (or two) on staff. jks

Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:[I think they have a point, but then I've defended Michael Milken too.]

Martha Stewart: Political Prisoner

by William L. Anderson

[Posted June 9, 2003]

It has finally come down to this: Martha Stewart must go to prison, 
or at the very least be forced to step down permanently from her 
position as CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, a company that 
she built from scratch.

James B. Comey, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, 
has successfully obtained an indictment on obstruction of justice 
charges, conspiracy, and securities fraud against Stewart as a result 
of her December 2001 sale of ImClone stock after the Food and Drug 
Administration had rejected its application, and her conduct 
following investigation of the sale.

(In a related story 
, 
it now turns out that the ImClone anti-cancer drug Erbitux, which was 
at the center of the controversy, is as effective as the company had 
claimed. To put it another way, this whole mess could have been 
avoided had it not been for the FDA's incompetence.)

For all of the vows by Stewart's attorneys that Martha will 
"vigorously" contest these charges, she truly faces an uphill battle. 
Unlike the typical set of criminal laws that exist to protect 
innocent people (i.e. laws against murder, assault, and theft), 
Stewart has been indicted under a set of laws that exist for one and 
only one purpose: to gain convictions. Given the hard and unpleasant 
facts of federal criminal law in 2003, it will be a miracle if 
Stewart is able to beat these charges. Too much is at stake 
politically for the government to back down now. To put it another 
way, Martha Stewart is likely to be a political prisoner.

[...]
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