[Opinion] The Lies of Martha Stewart, America’s Perfect Woman

America’s perfect woman, Martha Stewart, 62, could have avoided a dismal failure. Pundits, who have analyzed her responses since being indicted, conclude that she showed poor judgments every time she was faced with crucial moments. She grew up the second of six children of poor Polish immigrant parents and she once had well above one billion in assets. However, a federal jury recently found Stewart guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and two counts of lying to investigators, a verdict that means she will almost certainly serve a prison term.

What put her under such an ordeal is her sale of 3,928 shares of ImClone Systems Inc. She sold her shares just before the price of the stock plummeted after being secretly informed that a major shareholder was going to sell ImClone’s stocks. She might have avoided losing a maximum of her 45,000 dollars but this eventually caused shares of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. to fall so shapely that the price of the stock is now only the half compared to that of two years’ ago. As she has 30 million shares, or 61 percent, of the company, this is an enormous loss. On Monday when the verdict was read, the shares of the company slid 96 cents, inflicting a $28.8 million loss to her.

Jurors in the Martha Stewart trial, eight women and four men, said they felt pity for the fallen celebrity homemaker, but that ultimately they were sure they had made the right decision.

Jurors said they could no longer trust her testimonies because Stewart, who was referred to as a perfect woman who is organized and meticulous, claimed that she did not remember in most situations that were disadvantageous to her. Evidence made it easy for jurors make up their minds. For instance, evidence showed that she tried to delete her telephone records when she realized that she was in trouble. The verdict which was read against the “perfect woman” is also referred to as a victory for ordinary people.

She had three strategies in responding to this case. First, she refused to be investigated and lied during investigations. People said they could not imagine Stewart could have employed such an un-Stewart like strategy. When she was about to be indicted, she adopted a strategy given to her by a crisis management expert. She appeared on prime-time television programs and told her philosophies of her life, showing us her peculiar smiles. And just before the verdict was made, her lawyer employed a strategy that emphasized that she was too smart to make such a silly mistake, and that the case was really just about jealousy against her from society. However, all three strategies were futile. I hope Stewart’s case can be a good lesson to Korean politicians who are now embroiled in suspicions over illegal campaign funds.

New York Correspondent Hong Kwon-hee, konihong@donga.com