Martha Stewart escaped the most serious charge in her trial on Friday when a federal judge threw out a securities fraud count that could have landed the lifestyle trendsetter in prison for 10 years.
US District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum said the government failed to produce enough evidence to bring that count to the jury.
Stewart, who still faces charges of lying to investigators, promptly posted an Internet letter to reassure her fans.
"As my trial nears its conclusion, I am hopeful and optimistic that I will be exonerated," Stewart said in a letter posted on her Web site.
"I'm pleased that the judge has dismissed the most serious of the charges against me, concluding that there is no evidence to support it."
A smiling Stewart went arm-in-arm with her lawyers to a nearby Chinatown restaurant for a celebratory lunch after the judge issued the ruling, stopping to greet fans along the way.
Most days since proceeding began on Jan. 20, Stewart has stayed at the courthouse to eat lunch. Stewart and her former stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, still face charges of lying to investigators looking into the celebrity businesswoman's suspicious sale of ImClone Systems Inc stock in December 2001. The jury will begin deliberating those charges on Wednesday.
The judge had previously described the charge as novel and problematic. It accused Stewart of proclaiming her innocence in a move to mislead investors in her company and protect the financial health of Martha Stewart Living, the media empire she built out of a catering business.
"In assessing the sufficiency of the evidence, I have concluded that no reasonable juror can find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant lied for the purpose of influencing the market for the securities of her company," Cedarbaum said in a written opinion.
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