NEW YORK - Less than two weeks after her release from prison, US lifestyle diva Martha Stewart was back in court Thursday, arguing that her conviction for lying about a share deal should be overturned.
Stewart, accompanied by her daughter Alexis, arrived at the federal appeals court in Manhattan, wearing a pant suit that covered the monitoring bracelet she must wear around her ankle.
In the courtroom, Stewart's lawyer Walter Dellinger argued that his client's conviction should be reversed on two grounds: Firstly that one juror lied on his selection questionnaire, and secondly, that an expert government witness allegedly perjured himself.
The first charge appeared to gain some traction among the three-judge appeals bench, with Judge Richard Wesley questioning the prosecution as to whether a separate hearing should have been held into the allegations that the juror lied.
"Shouldn't at least Ms. Stewart ... have had her day in the courtroom to confront that guy and say why did he lie?" said Wesley, adding that Stewart's celebrity might have attracted some dodgy jury candidates.
"The court needs to be careful to figure out why jurors might be misrepresenting their backgrounds to get their 15 minutes of fame," he said.
Prosecutor Michael Schachter defended the judge in Stewart's trial, Miriam Cedarbaum, saying she had correctly applied the legal standard and there was "no reason" to hold a separate hearing on the juror.
Stewart was convicted 12 months ago of lying to federal agents investigating the sale of nearly 4,000 shares in biotechnology company ImClone Systems.
She began serving her five-month jail sentence in October, before her appeal came to court.
Following her release earlier this month, Stewart has been serving a further five months of house arrest, which requires her to wear an electronic bracelet.
03/17/2005 20:53 GMT