Stewart accused of trying to inflate stock by pleading innocence

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

Inserting an unusual twist into their indictment of the domestic diva, prosecutors charge that she committed a crime when she stood up in public last summer and denied engaging in insider trading.

"I was a little surprised at that," said Richard A Serafini, a former economic crimes prosecutor in New York.