Now that her request for a new trial has been rejected Stewart is going to perhaps have to try and rehabilitate her reputation through more PR efforts, like the special apology
she recently issued to her fans in the latest edition of Martha Stewart Living. "I am so sorry for the upset that my personal legal troubles have caused for all of you," she
writes. A day late and a dollar short, perhaps, but it's a start. Stewart and her former stockbroker at Merrill Lynch, Peter Bacanovic, were denied their appeal for a new trial
based on allegations that a juror had lied about his arrest record. The pair said they had not received a fair trial because juror Chappell Hartridge failed to disclose an arrest
in a domestic dispute on his jury questionnaire and that his post-trial comment about the conviction being "a victory for the little guy" showed a bias against them. But U.S.
District Judge Miriam Cedarbaum said nothing doing. Stewart, who was found guilty in March of four criminal counts for lying about her December 2001 sale of ImClone Systems stock,
will be sentenced June 17.
Back to the [PR] Drawing Board for Martha Stewart…
