Martha Stewart has denied all charges

Ms Stewart was charged earlier this month with securities fraud and obstruction of justice in relation to trading in shares of biotech firm ImClone.

She has strongly refuted the charges, and vowed to clear her name.

The TV personality' trial will start on 12 January, US federal judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum ruled, after lawyers for Ms Stewart sought more time to prepare their defence.

Ms Stewart sold ImClone shares the day before regulators rejected the company's application to market the cancer drug Erbitux.

I am confident I will be exonerated of these baseless charges Martha Stewart

The accusation is that she was acting on a tip-off from her friend, ImClone founder Sam Waksal, who has already admitted charges of securities fraud.

Waksal was sentenced last week to more than seven years in prison.

Ms Stewart has protested her innocence of all charges.

"I want you to know that I am innocent - and that I will fight to clear my name," she wrote in a letter published in USA Today and online at Marthatalks.com earlier this month.

"I am confident I will be exonerated of these baseless charges," Ms Stewart wrote.

'I simply returned a call'

Personal matter

In her brief letter, Ms Stewart attempted to shield her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, from the effects of any legal action, pointing out that the charges were a purely personal matter.

She later resigned as head of the company, which trades on her reputation as a tasteful homemaker.

"I simply returned a call from my stockbroker," Ms Stewart wrote.

"I later denied any wrongdoing in public statements and in voluntary interviews with prosecutors. The government's attempt to criminalise these actions makes no sense to me.

"I am confident I will be exonerated of these baseless charges."