<div id="subtitle">Judge who handled civil trial of former Kmart exec upholds jury's verdict on liability</div><div><p>A judge has upheld a civil verdict against the former head of Kmart Corp., who was found liable for misleading investors about the retailer's health in 2001.</p><p>U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Pepe (PAYP) vacated some findings of fact Wednesday but otherwise didn't upset the jury's verdict.</p><p>Charles Conaway's lawyer, Scott Lassar, says he's disappointed.</p><p>The Securities and Exchange Commission said Conaway misled Kmart investors in a phone call with Wall Street analysts and in a report filed with regulators in 2001, a few months before a bankruptcy filing in 2002.</p><p>A jury found him liable in June. Pepe still hasn't ruled on Conaway's financial penalty.</p><p>Kmart is now a unit of Sears Holding, formed after financier Edward Lampert acquired Kmart in 2003 and Sears, Roebuck and Co. in 2005.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=67443561&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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