A judge today turned down style guru Martha Stewart’s motion for a second trial based on allegations that a juror lied about his arrest record on a pre-trial questionnaire.

MARTHA STEWART’S felony conviction rattled through her rapidly eroding business empire as shares of her namesake company continued to fall, Viacom cancelled her syndicated television show and she quit the board of cosmetic giant Revlon.

JURORS in the Martha Stewart trial said they felt pity for the fallen celebrity homemaker as her verdict was read, but that ultimately they were sure they had made the right decision.

US “domestic goddess” Martha Stewart has been convicted of obstructing justice and lying to the US government about why she unloaded her stock in a biotech company just before the price plummeted.

MARTHA STEWART was convicted last night of obstructing justice and lying to the US government about a superbly-timed stock sale — a devastating verdict that probably means prison for the woman who epitomises meticulous homemaking and gracious living.

A New York judge threw out the most serious charge against Martha Stewart, securities fraud, before the jury was to retire to consider other verdicts.

Lawyers in the Martha Stewart trial will deliver their closing arguments early next week, and 12 jurors will begin deciding the fate of the style guru next Wednesday.

ONE of Martha Stewart’s closest friends has dealt a harsh blow to her longtime pal by testifying that the trendsetter told her she sold ImClone Systems Inc shares after learning the biotech company’s founder was dumping his stock.

A close friend of Martha Stewart has provided the last major link in a chain of evidence the US government hopes will convince jurors in New York that she lied about the home decorating magnate’s sale of ImClone Systems stock.

With an investigation looming, Martha Stewart sat down at her assistant’s computer and altered a record of a message left by her stockbroker about ImClone Systems stock, the assistant has told a New York court.

A young brokerage assistant testified that his boss ordered him to pass a secret tip to Martha Stewart that led the style guru to trigger her well-timed sale of shares.

Martha Stewart, the creative force behind what was once a billion dollar empire of domestic “good things,” is due in court in New York tomorrow to face trial on charges she lied about a well-timed share sale that saved her €40,400.

IMCLONE SYSTEMS founder Sam Waksal was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison yesterday for an insider-trading scandal that ensnared his family and threatens US home and style guru Martha Stewart and her home decorating empire.

MARTHA Stewart is accused of deliberately trying to inflate the stock of her own company — simply by declaring her innocence.