Martha Stewart's 'Common' Jury

March 2004
by Debra Opri - Attorney and Legal Analyst

In the end, it was many things, but maybe only one thing that mattered most. Could the jury relate to Martha, the person.

We all knew Martha Stewart as the mega star of television; the powerful self-made businesswoman with her name on everything she touched. Then there were the regular photo ops in the Hamptons. The circle of celebrity stars and power brokers who graced the society page with her. But we didn't know her as a person. And other than the hatchet job the government did on her and with absolutely no help from her esteemed roster of attorneys - stars in their own right on the legal stage - we never did get to know Martha, the person. In the form of close friends and employees and evidence of her extravagant and arrogant ways, the government presented a creature of astounding wealth and habit. A prima donna you might say, who had no time for an 'honest' life.

It's unfortunate. It's sad. But, it's the way of the world : the have's and have not's will never really understand each other, one might argue. If you're wealthy, you must then also be dishonest. And if you're dishonest, well, it's only a matter of time before you're going to get caught. So, when members of the jury spoke publicly for the first time after the verdict came in, it's a wonder that they could have decided anyway else. They really had no choice. They had one side of the story, and as a few stated, "if they [Martha Stewart's defense team] had only given us something to hang our hats on, then we may have come to a different conclusion." And take it as the best piece of advice for all the future celebrity trials to come. Celebrity is great, but from a celebrity, the jury wants to hear.......

Donald Trump, in all his blatant truths, said it the best; that Martha should have testified. But she didn't. Martha didn't speak. Ever. She kept a poker face throughout the trial - inside and outside of the courtroom. We never knew what she was thinking, or feeling. And with every witness, and every piece of evidence, she sat there, with her poker face, and she did nothing.

In the end, we only knew what the prosecution told us about her. And it was ugly.

From the $17,000 trips to the demanding long hours of her secretary, forced to sit at her desk and phone for up to 12 hours a day, and which secretary was ultimately forced to testify against Martha with tears streaming down this poor woman's face, mind you, we only saw a woman of great wealth looking down her nose at the common guy - emotionless, arrogant, and with certainty that 'this too shall pass.' And, it did. For when it was over, with no where else to go, the jury ruled.

Yes, the guy who also sat on that jury, the common guy who has to balance a checkbook every month, worried that there may not be enough money, let alone, that same job come next month, decided who Martha Stewart, the person, really was. A criminal.

If we have learned something from this tragic ending to a stellar life of a one time New Jersey girl who was from a blue collar background and who made good....real good...just working hard and believing in herself and her dreams, we learned this. The fight doesn't change just because you've got money and can hire expensive attorneys who can talk loud and argue louder. It's the same fight. It's you fighting for your life. You, alone.

And so I say to everyone out there who knows that life is a fight, understand that Martha lost her fight when she turned the battle over to a group of attorneys who thought her "celebrity" would make their jobs easy. They forgot that the people - those 12 jurors - wanted to hear Martha's side of the story, and they wanted to know how she got into this mess, what she was thinking, and why she did what she did.

In the end, it was only Martha's fight to win, or lose. And she lost, because she had stopped believing in herself, and the power of her own ability to communicate her message to the jury of 12 common, everyday people; the same kind of people she came from way back when.

From the courtroom to your living room, this has been another edition of THE OPRI OPINION.