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Saturday, February 14, 2004

Less Circus, More Trial

As the prosecution prepares to rest, it occurs to me this trial is moving along pretty smoothly without the usual overexposure of the media.

A few items make ironic news during the trial. Erbitux, the drug from Imclone that started the insider trading scandal, was approved by the FDA. K-Mart is suing Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, accusing the company of overcharging it for the rights to sell its products. These two news pieces just show that it's business as usual while the trial goes on. They have *nothing* to do with the trial. But it is interesting to note in the K-Mart article how they refer to MSLO as "Martha Stewart's company." Might as well cash in on her notoriety now I guess.

So what are trial media focused on now? The tug of war between the prosecution and the defense will shift in Martha's favor as the prosecution is expected to wrap up their case next week. The whole case should be done by the end of March...just in time for spring cleaning!

My biggest complaint is Blodget's Martha guilt meter. It has hardly moved throughout the trial. These gimmicks are created to actually measure something! But Martha has hovered between 18 and 22 percent chance of being convicted thus far. I assume this will drop during her defense.