Martha Fires Up Appeal

Ever on top of her holidays, Martha Stewart celebrated St. Patrick's Day by planting potatoes and heading to court.

The domestic diva arrived at a federal courthouse in Manhattan Thursday morning to attend oral arguments in her appeals hearing.

Dressed sharply in pinstriped trousers that covered the electronic monitoring bracelet she's required to wear as a condition of her house arrest, Stewart looked on as her attorneys tried to convince a three-judge appeals panel to overturn her conviction for lying to the government about a stock sale.

Stewart's legal eagles are basing the appeal in part upon allegations that juror Chappell Hartridge lied on his jury questionnaire in order to gain a seat on the jury.

After Stewart was convicted, Hartridge provided news crews with the choice and oft-aired sound bite, "Maybe it's a victory for the little guy...," paving the way for the homemaking maven's lawyers to accuse the juror of a bias against Stewart.

Stewart's appeals team further claimed that jurors in Stewart's trial falsely believed that the lifestyles guru was being charged with insider trading, when in fact, she was charged with obstruction of justice, making false statements and conspiracy.

Stewart's attorneys also argued that her conviction should be overturned based on perjury allegations against a government witness who testified at the trial.

Ink expert Larry Stewart was accused by prosecutors of exaggerating the role he played in analyzing a stock sheet that was used as evidence at the trial. A separate jury later acquitted him of perjury.

However, the appeals panel pointed out that Stewart had been acquitted of the charge that she had altered the stock sheet and therefore, the ink expert's alleged perjury had little effect on her conviction one way or the other.

Legal experts have posited that Stewart has little chance of having her conviction overturned, as appeals courts are generally loathe to overturn jury verdicts.

Even so, Stewart's attorney, Walter Dellinger waxed positive about Thursday's hearing.

"The judges were extremely well prepared, they asked excellent questions of both sides, they listened very intently," Dellinger told reporters outside the courthouse. "They really understand the issues in the case and that's all anybody having an appeal can ask for."

Stewart declined to speak with reporters, though when one asked how she was celebrating St. Patrick's Day, she called back, "I planted my potatoes."

The Living mogul was released from prison two weeks ago, after electing to serve her five-month sentence before pursuing her appeal in order to salvage the good name of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

Stewart is now in the midst of serving five months under house arrest at her 153-acre farm in Katonah, New York. She is permitted to leave the premises for 48 hours a week for work and errands and to attend various court appearances.

While doing time can't be classified as a "good thing," it certainly hasn't hurt Stewart's worth--last week, she was named to Forbes magazine's annual list of billionaires for the first time.

Despite her abundant wealth, the Living mogul will be reimbursed for $3.7 million of her legal expenses by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, the company announced Wednesday.

Meanwhile, as Stewart prepares for her role in developing two new television series--an Apprentice spinoff and a Mark Burnett-guided reinvention of her syndicated show--a third television series in the works from CBS is likely to chafe her as much as the electronic tether around her ankle.

The network is reportedly fast-tracking an unauthorized biopic on Stewart and has approached Cybill Shepherd about portraying the domestic diva in an encore performance. (Shepherd offered up a diabolical Stewart impression in NBC's 2003 bio Martha, Inc..)

While no casting decisions had been finalized, filming was expected to start on Mar. 28, per Daily Variety.