By Erin McClam
The Associated Press

NEW YORK - The star witness against Martha Stewart testified Thursday that she had berated him at least twice and once even threatened to take her business to another brokerage because she didn't like the telephone hold music.

Douglas Faneuil, who handled the questionable stock trade at the heart of Stewart's trial, confirmed that he wrote e-mails to friends describing her tirades.

In one e-mail Oct. 23, 2001, after handling a call from Stewart at Merrill Lynch & Co., Faneuil told a friend: "I have never, ever been treated more rudely by a stranger in my life. She actually hung up on me!"

Three days later, he wrote: "Martha yelled at me again today, but I snapped in her face and she actually backed down! Baby put Ms. Martha in her place!!!"

The e-mails emerged under questioning by a lawyer for Peter Bacanovic, Stewart's former stockbroker, who is accused of ordering Faneuil to give Stewart the tip that led her to dump all her ImClone Systems stock Dec. 27, 2001.

Faneuil initially supported Stewart and Bacanovic's story that they had a deal to sell her ImClone shares at $60. Faneuil claims Bacanovic ordered him to tell Stewart the family of the ImClone founder was dumping its shares.

Lawyers for Bacanovic have described Faneuil as "fixated" on Stewart, and they were using the e-mails to try to convince the jury that he did not like Stewart and might have been out to get her.

Bacanovic lawyer David Apfel asked Faneuil whether it was true Stewart once said "something about how bad the hold music was. She told you she was going to leave Mr. Bacanovic and leave Merrill Lynch unless the hold music was changed."

Faneuil confirmed the account. Jurors broke up in laughter.

In one e-mail to a friend, Faneuil describes Stewart - apparently thinking she was speaking with Bacanovic instead - mocking someone who answered phones.

"This is not a joke!" he quoted Stewart as saying, just before hanging up. "Merrill Lynch is laying off 10,000 employees because of people like that idiot!"