celeb power

Amongst all the chatter about today's conviction of Martha Stewart, this is by far my favorite piece of the story, from a Reuters story this afternoon...

Neither Stewart, who was visited in the courtroom during the trial by celebrity friends such as Bill Cosby and Rosie O'Donnell, nor Bacanovic took the stand in their own defense.

The appearance of other celebrities, however, may have done the businesswoman more harm than good. "If anything it was taken as a little bit of an insult," said [juror] Hartridge. "Like that was supposed to sway our decision?"

If that was an intentional strategy on the part of the defense -- to have jurors see Martha's high-profile friends come to her aid -- it obviously backfired. Could Stewart and her attorneys honestly envision the other scenario? One where a juror stands up in front of the press and says "Well, we know she broke the law and lied to investigators, but c'mon, did you see Bill Cosby in the courtroom? How cool was that! She can't be that bad if he's there to support her... So we acquitted, hoping for a dinner party invite."

Comments

[jkottke]

My favorite courtroom quote was from Martha's attorney in his closing remarks, asking the jury "to acquit Martha Stewart and allow her to return to improving the quality of life for all of us". Blech. Between that, Cosby, and Martha's designer wardrobe (fur scarf today, I believe), Stewart and her legal team did a poor job making the jury feel like peers.

[stoddart]

+1 on the scarf; that jumped out at me when watching the footage. Who was dressing Martha? Certainly not her attorneys, I hope.

[Sherry]

Martha made her own way in this world and like most of us she happened to make a couple of bad judgement calls.
Why America couldn't give her community service and a large fine and save the trial costs and the media frenzy is beyond me. There are people who have murdered and gotten off for much less. Look at the Enron fiasco. I mean really what is $48,000.00 to Martha Stewart? Pennies from heaven.
Give me a break and focus on something meaningful.
Sherry