MARTHA STEWART TRIAL Defense lawyers go after ex-Merrill Lynch employee

The witness said he hoped he wouldn't face drug-offense charges.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Defense lawyers in the Martha Stewart trial began their attack on the government's star witness, emphasizing his history of lying and coaxing an admission that he has repeatedly used illegal drugs.
The lawyers began cross-examining Douglas Faneuil, a former Merrill Lynch & amp; Co. assistant, on Wednesday after he delivered damaging testimony against the homemaking maven and her former stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic.
Faneuil claims he passed a secret stock tip from Bacanovic to Stewart on Dec. 27, 2001, that led her to dump all her shares of ImClone Systems. The pair are accused of lying to investigators about why the sale took place.
Under questioning from Bacanovic lawyer David Apfel, Faneuil admitted on the stand that he has repeatedly used marijuana and Ecstasy -- and on rare occasions cocaine and the party drug ketamine, also known as Special K.
But asked whether he used any of those drugs while on the job at the brokerage, Faneuil replied: "Absolutely not."
Went through dates
In painstaking detail, Apfel also walked Faneuil through some of the dates of his many meetings with the government since he changed his story in June 2002 and implicated Stewart and Bacanovic.
In early 2002, Faneuil had supported Stewart and Bacanovic's version of the stock sale -- that they had a pre-existing arrangement to sell Stewart's 3,928 ImClone shares when the price fell to $60.
Apfel also appeared to suggest that Faneuil was cooperating with the government in part to avoid prosecution for his drug use. Faneuil said he hoped he would not be charged with drug offenses.
"Just like they have given you assurance that if you cooperate, they won't go after you for the lies that you told in January and March of 2002, is that right?" Apfel asked.
"As long as I tell the truth now," Faneuil answered.
Cross-examination of Faneuil, 28, by Apfel and by Stewart's lawyers was expected to continue today, and is likely to extend into Monday. Court will not be in session Friday.
How the jury rates Faneuil's credibility is expected to be a critical component of how they judge whether Bacanovic and Stewart intended to break the law and lie to investigators.
On Wednesday morning, Faneuil delivered the most damaging testimony yet against Stewart, saying he had tipped her -- on Bacanovic's orders -- that ImClone founder Sam Waksal was dumping his own ImClone shares.