hey this woman has the same problem
=DJ Martha Friend: Can't Say If Stewart Really Made Comment
02/20/2004
Dow Jones News Services
(Copyright © 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
By Chad Bray
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--A close friend of Martha Stewart said Friday that she wasn't sure if Stewart actually made the damaging comment to which she testified in Stewart's securities fraud trial on Thursday.
Under questioning from Robert Morvillo, an attorney for Stewart, Mariana Pasternak said her recollection was extremely vague about whether Stewart actually said "Isn't it nice to have brokers tell you those things?" while the two vacationed in Mexico in December 2001.
"It is fair to say that I do not know if that statement was made by Martha or if that was just a thought in my mind," Pasternak said.
On Thursday, Pasternak said Stewart told her while on vacation that she knew ImClone System Inc. (IMCL) founder Sam Waksal and his family were trying to sell their shares in the company and Stewart had sold her ImClone shares.
Stewart later made the broker comment, Pasternak testified Thursday.
However, Pasternak reiterated Friday that it was her belief that Stewart made that comment about it being "nice" to have such a broker.
Stewart and her broker Peter Bacanovic are on trial in Manhattan, charged with lying to investigators about the circumstances surrounding the sale of her shares of ImClone.
Stewart faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charge of securities fraud. She and Bacanovic, her Merrill Lynch & Co. broker, also face a number of lesser charges including conspiracy and making false statements. Each carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Prosecutors say that Bacanovic ordered his assistant to secretly tip Stewart about the Waksal sales.
Stewart avoided a loss by selling all of her holdings in the biotech concern for about $228,000 the day before the Food and Drug Administration announced it wasn't going to accept the company's application for Erbitux, its cancer drug.
-By Chad Bray, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5293; chad.bray@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-20-04 1138ET
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