Key testimony in Martha Stewart trial

NEW YORK, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Testimony from the prosecution's star witness in the Martha Stewart trial was delayed Thursday when a dispute arose over a key document.

Douglas Faneuil, a 28-year-old former stock broker assistant, apparently has the most incriminating testimony in Stewart's fraud and obstruction of justice trial, according to prosecutors.

But Peter Bacanovic, Stewart's co-defendant and ex-Merrill Lynch broker, raised questions about the witness before he even took the stand stand, CNN reported.

Faneuil, who had worked at Merrill Lynch as assistant to Stewart's broker, was expected to testify that -- at the broker's insistence -- he passed along insider information to Stewart regarding ImClone shares, which prompted her to sell her shares.

Richard Strassberg, the lawyer for Bacanovic, protested that a note he received late Wednesday -- raising questions about who told Faneuil to tell Stewart that Waksal was selling ImClone stock -- was not handed to the defense months ago.

Judge Miriam Cedarbaum put the trial on hold as she and attorneys sought a remedy to the problem short of dismissal.

Stewart and her broker, Peter Bacanovic, both say she sold the stock because of an agreement to do so once the price dropped to $60.