Martha Stewart to Fight SEC on Civil Charges

Martha Stewart, who completed a five-month prison sentence a year ago for lying about a stock sale, will fight rather than settle civil insider-trading charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In an 11-page response to the SEC complaint filed late Thursday with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Stewart denied allegations that she sold 3,928 shares of ImClone Systems Inc. stock based on “material, nonpublic information.” Instead, she said she “acted in good faith.”

Fighting the charges offers Stewart, founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., the chance to reclaim her chief executive and chairwoman titles. District Judge Richard J. Holwell has mandated that evidence gathering be completed by Nov. 20 and set a pretrial conference for Nov. 17.