Sweet little ole Martha Stewart guilty on 4 counts

BBB
Martha Stewart may well indeed have been targeted for all the reasons others have stated here. But none of the pursuers handed her head on platter to them as she did with her own stupid behavior.

Her own greedy arrogant compulsions sealed her doom. The others just took advantage of it.

BBB

Stewart could have gotten probation offer which she declined
Martha's reason for not accepting the probation plea bargain was her statement made at the time: "They will never get me; I'm too rich." She brought on this trouble on herself.---BBB

Prosecutors Offered Martha Stewart a Deal Last April: Cop To One Count of Making a False Statement and Receive Probation and Continue to Work at Omnimedia, Sources Say

She Refused to Plead Guilty to a Felony

NEW YORK, March 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Newsweek has learned that the Feds gave Martha Stewart an opportunity to avoid prison. Federal prosecutors offered Stewart a deal last April to cop to one count of making a false statement, say several sources familiar with the offer. She would have received probation and could continue working at her company, they say. But she refused to plead guilty to a felony, and a defense source says the Feds couldn't guarantee she would stay out of jail.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040307/NYSU006 )

And federal investigators say she could have avoided the entire mess if
she had confessed in the beginning. Had she admitted wrong doing in early 2002, she could have gotten off with a $200,000 fine and no jail time, report Detroit Bureau Chief Keith Naughton and Special Correspondent Barney Gimbel in the March 15 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, March 8).

After a seven week trial, the jury deliberated for three days before
convicting Stewart on all four counts. One juror sobbed as the judge ticked off all the guilty counts. Martha's daughter, Alexis, doubled over in tears in the front row of the gallery. Alexis's husband John Cuti, also one of Martha's lawyers, buried his face in his hands at the defense table. Stewart stared straight ahead, showing no emotion.

Martha Stewart's case may set the new standard for judging fat cats who don't play by the rules, write Naughton and Gimbel. "We're now going to see the 'Martha test' as a fair punishment for white-collar crimes," says Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, associate dean of the Yale School of Management. "This is going to have a strong influence on jurors from here on out." And legal experts say she'll likely go to prison for one to three years, probably at a minimum-security "prison farm."

Martha's lawyers make a mistake by having 8 women on the jury. They should have had 12 men.

Lastly, Martha's case will be overturned on appeal.

One final thing...

Was Martha tried by a "Jury of her peers"?

C'mon, Miller. Martha has no 'peers.'

Miller
Miller, even in New York it would be hard to find that many vile-tempered people to serve on her jury.

BBB

BBB -- Do you have direct knowledge of her "vile" tember?

Piffka
Piffka, yep, people have been complaining for years (since her first catering days before she became famous) about Martha's vile temper and her sleazy business association practices. Martha has trouble getting along with family members, neighbors, and business related people.

I remember her daughter's complaints about how Martha kept their home, when she was married, like a "museum" and how much she hated living in it. She said you couldn't really "live" in the home, just show it off.
Its a wonder her husband stayed with her as long as he did.

Martha was a very creative and smart business woman. But her greed and arrogance caused her to sabotage most of her relationships with people and business associates. Martha is infamous for her vile temper and her habit of screaming at people all of the time.

I used to buy her books and once subscribed to her magazine, but as I learned more about Martha over the years, I stopped because I knew it was all a money-making sham.

I will never forget the day I phoned to start a subscription to her Martha Stewart Living magazine. The phone rang for nearly 1/2 hour before one poor young guy finally answered it on a Sunday morning. He was swamped with calls, trying to handle everything by himself. When I asked why Martha didn't have a larger staff to handle the call volume, he said she usually did, but all the staff had quit---except for him---after Martha threw a screaming fit in the office the day before over some minor thing. People were always quitting because they couldn't stand the way Martha treated them.

You get a hint of this in the trial testimony by Martha's secretary. She made copies of e-mails, both the originals and those changed by Martha, had a co-worker sign as a witness, and put them in storage in case they were needed to protect themselves in the future. And her "close friend" who was traveling with Martha at the time she gave the sell order was willing to testify to what Martha really said and did. Martha has abused so many friendships and she doesn't have many "real" friends, only those that are useful to each other.

BBB

I thought you may have met her in person and been offended.

Having a personal secretary and a Sunday phone operator willing to screw their own boss (but not just quit) tells me as much about those workers as about Martha. Maybe it is because I also have a short temper and am not tolerant of sloppy work that I'm willing to sympathize.

My opinion is there is a good side and a bad side to most everyone. I've also seen how many people stay & are promoted on the MS Living magazine staff, which shows me not all the people who work for her are disgruntled.

Apparently she got her worst reputation after deciding to leave Westport... the people there were furious. This article in the Chicago Tribune tells me there are two sides to this. There were several people who had good things to say and, it seemed to me, a certain pettiness in those who gloat because she has gained weight, snobbishly infer that she isn't up to snuff for socializing with the really rich of Maine and grumble because she doesn't care for people driving up her driveway in the middle of the night.

The Dish on Martha

Having worked for a few tyrants in my professional life, all I can say about that is, Martha Stewart Living looks damn good on a resume. That's the trade-off.

Re: Sweet little ole Martha Stewart guilty on 4 counts

I hear she is a real bitch to work for so I was cheering when I heard the verdict. Karma in action!