New York, Feb 16: In a break for Martha Stewart, a judge ruled on Friday that prosecutors cannot call expert witnesses to testify that the celebrity homemaker tricked investors into buying stock in her company by making false statements. The decision, which goes to the heart of the most serious charge against Stewart, was a blow to prosecutors trying to show she committed securities fraud when she publicly denied any involvement in an insider trading scheme. “We believe this renders the security fraud charge dead on arrival,” said one person close to Stewart’s defence team. But the lead prosecutor told reporters that the government could prove securities fraud without calling experts. Stewart could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of that charge alone. Taking a novel approach, prosecutors charge that Stewart’s statements about her role in selling ImClone stock on December 27, ’01 were made to protect the financial health of her own company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Prosecutors say Stewart committed securities fraud because investors who bought shares trusted that Ms Stewart was telling the truth when she said she had no insider knowledge that prompted her to sell nearly 4,000 ImClone shares. The decision bars prosecutors from calling expert witnesses to tell jurors that investors were duped into buying stock by her statements of innocence. In the ruling, US district judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum said she had “precluded any expert testimony on whether a reasonable investor would have considered the statements important in making an investment decision.” Stewart and her former broker Peter Bacanovic are on trial accused of lying to cover-up the real reason for her December ’01 sale of ImClone. Stewart ordered the trade after receiving a “secret tip” that the biotech company’s founder and his family were dumping their shares, prosecutors charge. Prosecutors expect to end their side of the trial by next Thursday. Robert Morvillo, one of Stewart’s lawyers, said the defence team will have an estimate of the length of their case next week. The trial resumes on Tuesday. Cedarbaum’s ruling came just before Stewart’s lawyers resumed their cross examination of FBI agent Catherine Farmer, who testified earlier this week that Stewart told investigators she had a pre-existing arrangement with Bacanovic to sell ImClone stock when it fell to around USD 60 a share. Bureau Report