Commentary: Viewpoint: The Martha Stewart case

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Mar 11, 2004 by Journal Record staff

Several Journal Record readers were asked to provide their insights on the Martha Stewart case. The following quotes were compiled by Heidi R. Centrella and Kirby Lee Davis.

The powers to be were unable to find a virgin to sacrifice, so they set their sights on little 'miss perfect.' Martha was guilty of being dumb and of lying - but why spend precious resources on her when so many other criminals abound from which to select?

- Dana Davis, Yukon attorney.

There are probably a lot of things more important in life than what Martha Stewart was being prosecuted for. But it does prove a very old adage in life, and that is very seldom do we get in trouble for making a mistake, we all do that. People don't like to admit it, but the worst thing you can do is not admit it. When a lawyer makes mistakes, and they do happen, you admit it, and you tell somebody what you did - what mistake you made and how you're going to go about trying to correct it. And had she done that, she probably wouldn't have this problem. If she would have just told the investigators, 'This is what I did, I didn't know that was wrong, I'm sorry,' they probably wouldn't have prosecuted her because they dismissed the hard count. She got in trouble for lying. It doesn't pay.

- Charles A. Skip Codding, lawyer at Dunlap, Codding & Rogers.

In this day and age, especially since the debacles of Enron and several other big companies, we're seeing an increased focus and interest in governance policies - governance between the board and senior leadership and what is considered ethical and conflict of interest. So that whole issue is receiving more attention, and it will probably be in the forefront for many, many years. I think that's good because those structures and those systems within organizations, whether it's a business, school or government, all those issues of conflict of interest and ethical behavior have to be examined. And how do we do that? Not only what we say we do, but how do we do that? How do we measure that? So this whole issue of how do we ensure that not only our leaders, but our employees, as well, and stakeholders practice and understand what are ethical behaviors, and that we want to ensure a level playing field for everyone.

- Michael Strong, executive director of Oklahoma Quality Award Foundation.

I think Martha Stewart made a very foolish mistake, and the outcome was as it should have been.

- James R. Tolbert, owner of Full Circle Bookstore.

Stewart's conviction illustrates that her celebrity and economic power did not insulate her from fair and impartial justice. The jury found she attempted a cover-up. She should have either told the absolute truth or invoked her Fifth Amendment privilege against self- incrimination. Arrogantly attempting to outwit the authorities was a foolish mistake. Her 'minimalist' defense strategy only compounded her error. Insider trading wrongfully shifts the risks of investing on small investors who don't receive phone tips from CEOs.

- John Gatliff, Mustang attorney.