Martha Stewart’s credibility might have taken a beating with the testimony of assistant stockbroker Douglas Faneuil, but Chicago defense attorney and law professor Richard Kling says defense attorneys could end up hurting their case with questions into Faneuil’s recreational drug use.
“Certainly it can backfire,” says Kling, who calls the tactic risky.
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“It always is when you dirty up a witness just to dirty up the witness.”
Unless the guy was high while talking to Stewart, the jury could see questions about drugs as an attempt to divert attention from the real question at hand–his testimony about passing info about a stock sale along to Stewart, Kling says.
In other celebrity trial news:
BRYANT: The defense tries to get evidence collected from Bryant thrown out of court.
In a pretrial hearing, police admit to mistakes in the way evidence was collected, including a predawn exam of the athlete that violated court rules. Arguments resume March 1.
SCOTT PETERSON: A witness who claimed she saw Laci Peterson the day she disappeared dies, potentially dealing a blow to Scott Peterson’s defense. Pretrial hearings continue Monday.
JACKSON: Attention to his child molestation charges are temporarily diverted by his sister’s Super Bowl performance.
R. KELLY: More postponements … hearings in Chicago and Florida that were scheduled for this week get pushed back.