Stewart plea dismissed

A New York judge has refused to grant “domestic goddess” Martha Stewart a new trial, dismissing an appeal based on claims that a juror lied to conceal bias against the celebrity home-making entrepreneur.

The decision by US District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum clears the way for a hearing next month at which Stewart could be sentenced to more than a year in prison for lying about a shares sale.

Cedarbaum also denied a new trial for Peter Bacanovic, who was convicted along with Stewart on March 5 for lying about why Stewart sold 3,928 shares of ImClone Systems in 2001, just before the stock plunged on a negative government report about a cancer drug.