Nearly eight years after being released from prison, Martha Stewart finds herself again in a legal pickle.
The domestic diva is slated to appear in court next week to fend off a legal attack from Macy’s.
Stewart — who has been accused by Macy’s of breaching an exclusive distribution deal for home goods by inking a tie-up with JCPenney last year — is tentatively slated to take the witness stand Tuesday, lawyers said yesterday.
Star witnesses in the non-jury trial — which begins today in Manhattan state court — also include Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren and Penney CEO Ron Johnson.
As reported by The Post, Penney, as a legal precaution, is keeping Stewart’s name off the vast majority of home goods she has designed exclusively for Penney, most of which are scheduled for rollout in May.
With a few exceptions — notably window treatments and lighting — Penney instead will brand the goods “JCP Everyday,” insiders told The Post.
Unless she wins the case, Stewart will be barred from promoting the JCP Everyday line.
In addition to cutting a 10-year, $200 million licensing deal, Penney last year shelled out $38.5 million for a 17-percent stake in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.
Legal jockeying had already begun yesterday in pretrial motions, as Macy’s lawyers demanded a peek at Penney’s new store prototype in Dallas.
The Penney prototype has been kept top secret by CEO Johnson, with even many senior Penney execs denied access, sources said.
Macy’s request was denied.
The trial is expected to last up to two and a half weeks. Stewart was convicted in 2004 of lying to federal agents probing an insider-trading case, and she was sentenced to five months in prison.