Martha Stewart to write book about trial

updated 9:08 a.m. ET July 20, 2004

NEW YORK - Martha Stewart said Monday she plans to write a book about her trial experience to help others facing that process.

"I think I'll write a book because I think it could be helpful to other people, just about what lawyer to choose, how to behave, how to attend an interview," the domestic entrepreneur told CNN's Larry King in her first live interview since being sentenced Friday.

Stewart was sentenced on Friday to five months in prison and five months home confinement for lying to investigators about a stock sale.

Stewart said on King's CNN program Monday night that she had no guide to help her handle the trial process.

"There's no how-to book about this," she said. "There isn't. And not that it's going to be a big best seller, but for anybody who has to go through this process, there should be some guidelines because guidelines would help."

Stewart, 62, and her stock broker, Peter Bacanovic, 42, were convicted in March of making false statements, conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Bacanovic, who received the same sentence, also was convicted of perjury.

Prosecutors said Stewart lied about the circumstance surrounding her sale of stock in ImClone Systems Inc. in late 2001.

They said she did so after being tipped by Bacanovic's assistant that the company's founder and his family were selling their stock just before an unfavorable report from the Food and Drug Administration on ImClone's cancer therapy.

Stewart and Bacanovic maintained she sold the stock because of an agreement they had to unload it when it fell to $60.

Stewart also said she had spoken to ImClone founder Sam Waksal on the telephone since he was sent to a federal prison for tipping his relatives to the FDA report.

"I spoke to him once, yes," she said. "He seems to be OK. He said he's read 180 books and he's learned Italian."

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