New York ? The Martha Stewart show debuts today in Manhattan Federal Court, with the domestic goddess ready to take off the kitchen mitts and fight back on the witness stand.

Stewart has been undergoing mock cross-examinations and is eager to testify at her trial on conspiracy, securities fraud and obstruction of justice charges, say her lawyers and others familiar with her thinking.

“Of course the defendant wants to testify,” said co-counsel Robert Morvillo, who declined to discuss specifics of her pretrial preparation.

Morvillo emphasized that while his famous client was ready to take the stand, he would not advise her on whether that’s a good idea until the prosecution rests.

He conceded, though, that her image as the princess of perfection may work against her.

“You’ve got the Kathie Lee Gifford syndrome here,” he said. “The image that’s been projected is she gets on TV and says, ‘I’m trying to make the perfect apple pie.’ The public has come away with the perception that she has tried to portray herself as a perfect human being. And now that perfect human being has stubbed her toe.”

Stewart, 62, and her ex-stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, 41, are set to show up today at Courtroom 110 in the Foley Square Courthouse. That’s the site of some of the nation’s most memorable prosecutions, from the 1951 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg spy case to the 1993 World Trade Center bombers trial.

The circus atmosphere is building, with Stewart fans vowing to wear chef’s hats while forming a “human billboard” outside the courthouse.

The trial before Manhattan Federal Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum is expected to last six weeks, starting with jury selection this week. Stewart faces up to 10 years in prison if she is convicted.

To prepare, Stewart completed a kind of boot camp for criminal defendants, according to people familiar with her pretrial prep work. She has immersed herself in the details of her case, reviewing stacks of documents, and she has submitted to mock cross-examinations in her lawyers’ offices.

That way, her lawyers hope she will be ready if she takes the stand for what is expected to be aggressive cross-examination by Karen Patton Seymour, head of the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s criminal division.