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Martha Stewart at federal court for first day of trial

Opening statements due Tuesday morning

Stewart arrives at the federal courthouse in New York Tuesday.
Stewart arrives at the federal courthouse in New York Tuesday.

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LEGAL DOCUMENTS
• Superseding indictment U.S. v. Stewart and Bacanovic  (FindLaw, PDF)external link
• Stewart's employment agreement Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. and Martha Stewart  (FindLaw)external link

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Martha Stewart arrived in federal court Tuesday for the first day of her obstruction of justice trial, with opening statements from the defense and prosecution, as well as possible testimony from the government's star witness, on the agenda.

The prosecution's star witness, former Merrill Lynch brokerage assistant Doug Faneuil, was expected to be among the first to be called to testify, and could testify as early as Tuesday, sources said.

Tuesday's hearing was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET.

U.S. Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum seated a jury Monday of eight women and four men and also agreed to a government motion limiting some of the arguments that Stewart's defense team can make.

Among the limitations: Stewart's lawyers can't say she was being prosecuted for proclaiming her innocence in the case or for asserting her First Amendment right to free speech.

The defense also is barred from saying that the securities fraud charge Stewart faces is a novel application of securities laws, and from making statements that would tend to show the government's motives in investigating or prosecuting Stewart were improper.

The defense also can't say that the fact Stewart and former broker Peter Bacanovic aren't facing criminal insider trading charges means the government doesn't believe they committed such a crime.

Stewart, 62, is charged with obstructing justice and conspiracy stemming from her sale of nearly 4,000 shares of ImClone Systems stock in 2001, a day before the stock tumbled after the government rejected ImClone's application for an experimental cancer drug.


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