No New Trial for Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart's hopes of a fresh trial were crushed yesterday by a US federal judge. The businesswoman, convicted two months ago of lying to government investigators, filed a motion for a retrial after it emerged that a juror had lied during the selection process.

The juror, Chappell Hartridge, claimed he had never been in court except for a minor traffic violation. In fact, he was arrested in 1997 for assault. He also omitted the fact that he had been sued three times.

Stewart's lawyers argued she had been denied the chance of a fair trial. Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum, who tried the original case, disagreed, saying the allegations against Mr Hartridge were "extremely unfortunate" but did not justify granting a new trial. Stewart faces sentencing in June.