INSIDER TRADING TRIAL Stewart business manager testifies in her defense

A business manager for Martha Stewart supports her assertions.
NEW YORK (AP) -- A defense witness said Martha Stewart's stockbroker told her he had plans for the homemaking mogul to dump her ImClone Systems before it fell to $60 -- weeks before she actually sold.
The testimony by Heidi DeLuca, a business manager for Stewart, supports the key element of the defense -- that Stewart and broker Peter Bacanovic had a pre-existing plan to sell her 3,928 ImClone shares.
The government contends the $60 plan was a cover story, devised after investigators started looking into the sale. Prosecutors say Stewart sold because she was tipped that ImClone founder Sam Waksal was selling his shares.
Earlier discussion
But DeLuca testified Monday that Bacanovic expressed a desire to get rid of the shares in a conversation on Nov. 8, 2001. That was weeks before Stewart sold the stock on Dec. 27, 2001.
"He told me he felt ImClone was a dog," she said. "He felt he could set a floor price of $60 or $61 just in case the stock continued to fall, as a safeguard."
DeLuca said she was discussing the matter with Bacanovic because she was handling the transfer of Stewart's ImClone shares from another bank to Merrill Lynch & amp; Co., where Bacanovic worked.
Stewart and Bacanovic are accused of repeatedly lying to investigators about the circumstances of the ImClone sale. They are charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice, among other counts.
The testimony Monday came as Stewart got support from Bill Cosby, who wore sunglasses as he sat next to her daughter in the courtroom. Asked by reporters why he showed up, Cosby said: "I'm here for a friend."