by TChris

A key witness against Martha Stewart admitted under cross-examination that she may have imagined some of the statements that she attributed to Stewart in yesterday's testimony. As TalkLeft reported yesterday, Stewart's friend, Mariana Pasternak, testified that she recalled Stewart saying "Isn't it nice to have brokers who tell you those things," an apparent reference to Stewart's alleged receipt of information that ImClone CEO Sam Waksal had been trying to dump his shares in the company. Today she isn't so sure.

"I do not know if the statement was made by Martha or if it was thought in my mind," Pasternak said. She also said she previously told prosecutors that she was not sure about that recollection.

The prosecution is expected to rest its case (or what's left of it) later today.

Update: The prosecution did indeed rest this afternoon. As expected, Stewart's attorney, Robert Morvillo, moved to dismiss the charges against her. The judge, Miriam Cedarbaum, will not decide that motion until Monday, but indicated that she viewed the securities fraud count as "the most problematic" (read: shakiest) of the charges against Stewart.