I did not see nobody mocking at her or trying to be nasty after her appearance. It was already after the last trial that I saw a new strength in her as like she was determined to take a new challenge.
In this aspect she is like me - I hate waiting. It is better to undergo the challenge that to wait and wait and wait!

Martha Stewart Asks to Begin Sentence

By Brooke A. Masters
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 15, 2004; 2:21 PM

NEW YORK, Sept. 15 -- Martha Stewart said Wednesday she has asked a federal judge to send her directly to prison to begin serving her five-month sentence, without waiting until a higher court rules on her appeal.

Standing on a podium in the Manhattan offices of the company she founded, Stewart spoke -- sometimes tearfully -- of her "intense desire and need to put this behind me. I must reclaim my good life. I must reclaim my good works."

Her lawyers delivered the highly unusual request in a letter to U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum, who presided over Stewart's trial on charges of obstruction and lying and ruled in June that the multimillionaire businesswoman could stay free on appeal.

Stewart spoke of her decision as both a personal and a business decision designed to protect the multimedia empire she built.

A Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman said that once the judge formally consigns Stewart to its custody, the housewares entrepreneur will probably learn within a few weeks where she will serve her time. Stewart's lawyers said prison officials have told them that her first choice, a minimum security camp in Danbury, Conn., is currently full. Stewart said during her news conference that she hoped to be assigned to Danbury because it would make it easier for family, including her 90-year-old mother, to visit.

Two board members at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. and Sharon L. Patrick, who took over as chief executive after Stewart was indicted, attended the emotional news conference and expressed support for Stewart's decision.

"Thank you Martha. We are all very proud of you as you take this difficult step," said board Chairman Thomas C. Siekman.

Stewart is the company's majority owner, and Siekman and the other officials emphasized that the decision to go right to prison was hers alone. But the company's magazines have been suffering major advertising declines, and Patrick has been blunt in recent months, saying that a full recovery was unlikely until Stewart's legal situation was fully resolved.

The company's stock price jumped up immediately to $12.50 around the time of the announcement but was hovering around $11.35 by 1 p.m., up less than 2 percent from yesterday's close of $11.14.

Stewart and three of her appeals lawyers who attended the news conference insisted that they still believe that the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals will overturn her conviction on charges she and her former broker, Peter E. Bacanovic, conspired and lied to federal securities regulators about her sale of ImClone Systems Inc. stock.

They said the court's decision this week to give Bacanovic until mid-October to file his part of the appeal means that there is no way the case could be resolved before the middle of next year. In addition, if Stewart were to win a reversal, the U.S. Attorney's office on Manhattan could then opt to retry her, a process that could take another six months or more. The U.S. Attorney's office declined to comment.

"This is a very strong appeal . . . [but] any victory that comes more than a year after the conclusion of her trial doesn't work for her, her family and her company," said appeals attorney Walter Dellinger, of the District.

And Stewart said, "I cannot bear any longer the prolonged suffering . . . while I and my legal team await vindication. It is time to put it all behind us, behind me so we can all move forward."

Many defendants opt to drop their appeals voluntarily to save money and because they think they will not win. But it is highly unusual to serve time voluntarily while still pursuing an appeal, sentencing and appeals experts said.

"No matter what she says, [the decision to go to prison] is an absolute reflection on their belief that they likely will not prevail on appeal. If you really believe you are going to prevail, you stay out," said Jacob S. Frenkel, a former federal prosecutor who is not involved in the case.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23350-2004Sep15.html

check out our article about Martha:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art17980.asp
Martha Stewart Process & Sentence� witch hunt or justice served?

Jaga,

I agree with you that Martha was persecuted - and prosecuted - more because she was a successful single woman who had made a lot of enemies than because her actions were of a monumental criminal nature. It is shabby treatment for her while the Enron officials and other establishment white males who ruined hundreds of lives go without punishment.

But beyond that, I would feel the same way she does - I could not bear waiting to be put in jail - I think the waiting would be harder than actually being in jail and getting it over with. I can certainly empathize with her. When I was a child - around 4 - I used to worry that I had made my mother angry, and I would say - in front of lots of people - "if you're going to hit me, hit me now!" My poor mother - she never once laid a hand on me, (although she did yell at me, in Polish). I have no idea why I always said that. She was always very embarrased. In today's culture if some adult heard me say that, I probably would have been "rescued" . . .what a mess that would have been!

Nancy

Nancy,
Again you are confusing me.. The way I figured it, at your age.. I figure the middle fifties.. That would make you a baby boomer.. And your mother a 1st generation Polish American.. Or did your Mother come from Poland?
You say that she scolded you in Polish.. But I was under the impression that you did not speak Polish??? Frank

Nancy,
Again you are confusing me.. The way I figured it, at your age.. I figure the middle fifties.. That would make you a baby boomer.. And your mother a 1st generation Polish American.. Or did your Mother come from Poland?
You say that she scolded you in Polish.. But I was under the impression that you did not speak Polish??? Frank

Martha Stewart case was a diversion from corruption in Goverment & big corporations.

Frank,

Sorry I am confusing you so much! LOL. You are right - I am 57,(hey, my birthday is in my Bella profile, no secret!) Both parents were first generation Polish-American; that generation all spoke Polish. My generation (1930s-1950s)all grew up hearing Polish but were not allowed to speak it (I don't know why, since the girls were all expected to marry Polish boys).

Anyway, I certainly knew when I was being scolded. I also know one lullaby about cats and how to count, but only up to 5.

Nancy

PS. So, you did not get blown away by Ivan after all. That's good! I have friends in Mobile, Alabama, and they are in for a bad time, I think.

Sciwriter,

You are right. Wonder who they would have picked on if Martha had not walked in when she did.

Nancy

I don't feel that Martha Stewart should be sent to jail in the first place. It's a sad fact that she is being made an example of - it doesn't seem right that she should have to suffer for that fact.

But I can easily understand why she has made her decision to want to go to jail sooner than later and just get it over with. All of this waiting and tension must be impossible to bear with.

Probably, I would make the same decision she did, if I were in the same situation. Nobody wants to go to jail, but at least it will get over sooner if you start it sooner.

The coward suffers a thousand deaths, but the hero dies only once.

I'd put the prosecuters in jail.