Stewart may serve jail time while waiting for appeal date

NEW YORK -- Martha Stewart is considering reporting to prison while still appealing her conviction in an effort to put the ordeal behind her and lift the cloud of uncertainty surrounding her company, her attorney said Monday.

Experts say Stewart and her company may be better served if she does the time right away.

"The faster you can get this behind you, the better," said Eric Dezenhall, who runs a Washington, D.C.-based public relations firm that specializes in damage control.

Walter Dellinger, the appeals specialist attorney now handling Stewart's case, said Stewart is considering whether to "sacrifice herself" for the good of her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. He said Stewart would make a decision "fairly soon."

"She's willing to think about this because of the company," Dellinger told ABC's "Good Morning America." "It is a complicated issue because there's very valuable time she can spend right now for the company."

Stewart was sentenced this month to five months in prison and five months of house arrest -- the minimum penalty under federal guidelines -- after she was convicted of lying to authorities about a 2001 stock sale.

The judge who oversaw her case, citing confusion over a recent Supreme Court ruling about criminal sentencings, allowed her to stay out of prison while she appeals -- a process that could last well into 2005.

The celebrity homemaker herself has said her "belief in the judicial system and fairness" suggests she should put off going to prison, and hope an appeals court overturns her conviction. Dellinger said Stewart would still pursue her appeal if she serves time, in an effort to clear her name.

Although shares in Stewart's company have risen since her sentencing, some Wall Street analysts believe investors would rather see Stewart get the sentence out of the way. Stock in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia closed at $11 on Monday, up 15 cents.

"As long as she goes to appeal and stays out, and this whole thing goes on, the advertisers have an excuse for not coming back," said Dennis McAlpine, an analyst with McAlpine Associates who covers the company. "And the company stays in this weird sort of limbo."

Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum has granted Stewart's request to recommend to federal prison officials that she be assigned to a facility in Danbury, Conn., near her home, if she serves time.

If Stewart decides to begin serving soon, she could be released very early in 2005, and finish her five months of home confinement -- which she plans to serve at an estate in Bedford, N.Y. -- by next summer.

"This is a hard thing," Stewart told CNN on July 19. "And pundits are out there saying, 'Oh, she should go in.' Do they know what it's like to go to jail? I don't think they know."

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On the Net:

Stewart defense site: http://www.marthatalks.com