Wednesday, March 3, 2004 | 9:27 a.m.
NEW YORK -- A federal judge, in her final instructions to jurors at the Martha Stewart trial, urged them today to consider the stock fraud case with "complete fairness and impartiality."
"You are the sole and exclusive judges of the facts," U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum told the jurors, giving them a set of legal instructions to guide their deliberations.
The jurors were to begin deliberations later in the day.
"You are to discharge this final duty with complete fairness and impartiality," the judge said. "You must have no bias or prejudice for or against the government or the defendants."
Stewart is accused of conspiracy, obstruction of a Securities and Exchange Commission proceeding and two counts of lying to investigators. She could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted, although she could serve as little as one year. Peter Bacanovic, her stockbroker, was charged as a co-conspirator.
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