NEW YORK — Martha Stewart's lawyer asked jurors Tuesday to acquit the homemaking guru and allow "her return to her life, and improving the quality of life for all of us."

Lawyer Robert Morvillo even borrowed Stewart's trademark line during his closing argument, telling the jury, "It's a good thing."

The jury is scheduled to begin deliberations Wednesday. Stewart faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted of the four charges stemming from a Dec. 27, 2001, stock sale in biotech firm ImClone.

Morvillo admitted during closing arguments that Stewart knew ImClone CEO Sam Waksal sought to dump his stock in the company the same day she made her trade, but the lawyer contended the information had nothing to do with her trade. 

"There's no evidence Martha Stewart thought there was anything wrong with that trade," Morvillo said. Stewart, a former stockbroker herself, had no reason to believe Waksal was doing anything wrong at the time because large stock sales are commonly made for reasons ranging from buying houses to diversifying a portfolio, Morvillo said.

Waksal, however, sold $7.5 million of shares in his company on Dec. 27, 2001, a day before a public announcement of an FDA decision to reject the application for ImClone cancer drug Erbitux.

"Would she guess he was dumb enough to sell the day before the Erbitux announcement?" Morvillo said, during remarks so full of sarcasm they frequently drew laughter from observers. "It's like a 'come and get me' sign."

The government also had pursued a securities fraud charge against Stewart, claiming she deliberately misled the public during the ImClone investigation to protect the market value of her own corporation, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. But U.S. District Judge Miriam Cedarbaum threw out that charge Friday, citing a lack of evidence.

'The $60 story'

Morvillo argued Tuesday that Stewart sold her shares of ImClone pursuant to an agreement with her stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, to sell ImClone when the price dipped to $60 a share.

Prosecutors contend no such arrangement existed, arguing Monday during the government's closing argument that "the $60 story" was hatched by Stewart and her co-defendant, Bacanovic, as a cover story after the SEC launched an investigation.

Morvillo countered Tuesday with 24 items he says prove the $60 agreement existed before Stewart sold her stock. The sale saved the multimillionaire approximately $45,000.

Among the items was the corroborating testimony of Stewart's financial manager, Heidi DeLuca, and forensic evidence that a notation was made on a worksheet prepared by Bacanovic regarding the ImClone sale well before the sale date.

Since Bacanovic and Stewart made a legitimate stock trade, Morvillo argued, they had no cause to enter into a conspiracy to cover up circumstances surrounding the sale. In addition to conspiracy, Stewart is charged with obstruction and two counts of lying to investigators. Each charge carries a maximum five-year term.

"Not one piece of information is in this record that those two people had a meeting of the minds and agreed to commit a crime," Morvillo said.

Morvillo cited inconsistencies he characterized as "major, gaping huge holes," including differences in accounts given by Stewart and Bacanovic during separate interviews with investigators.

"Nobody could have done what Peter Bacanovic and Martha Stewart have allegedly done, and done it in a dumber fashion," Morvillo said, comparing the government's account of the conspiracy to "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight" and "A Confederacy of Dunces."

Stewart and Bacanovic differed on "crucial elements," he said, such as whom Stewart spoke to when she authorized the sale, and key dates surrounding the case.

"We know they're smart people," Morvillo said. "If those two people wanted to sit down and rig a story, wouldn't they at least sit down and make that story consistent?"

'Good faith mistakes'

Dubbing him "the definition of reasonable doubt," Morvillo also attacked the government's star witness Douglas Faneuil, Bacanovic's former assistant at Merrill Lynch, who testified he acted on Bacanovic's orders when he told Stewart about the Waksal sale.

"Douglas Faneuil says they were conspirators because Peter Bacanovic came back and said Martha Stewart and Peter Bacanovic were on the same page," Morvillo said. "They weren't on the same page. They weren't even on the same book."

Morvillo attempted to dismantle the government's case, one charge at a time, providing explanations for each false statement Stewart is alleged to have made.

Stewart, for instance, was accused of lying when she said she spoke to Bacanovic, not Faneuil, when she authorized the sale of her ImClone stock. But Morvillo said that Stewart, calling from a cellphone while in a Texas airport en route to a vacation in Mexico, believed she had Bacanovic on the phone during the brief dialogue. According to the lawyer, had she known it was Faneuil, she would never have placed the order with the rookie brokerage assistant.

"Martha Stewart may have made a mistake on Dec. 27 because she confused the voices," Morvillo said.

Any mistakes Stewart made were "good faith mistakes," not "bad faith mistakes," he said.

In her brief rebuttal, lead prosecutor Karen Patton Seymour addressed Morvillo's argument that Stewart was simply too smart to enter into a conspiracy.

"Smart people make mistakes and smart people do dumb things," she said.

Jurors are slated to be instructed on the law Wednesday morning before beginning their deliberations.