The US government contradicts the lawyers of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, saying they are asking jurors “unnecessarily intrusive” questions.
In a new filing, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers proposed asking jurors several questions, including whether they have ever heard of the former CEO or his companies, formed an opinion about him or the companies and whether they have already decided whether he is guilty or not. .
The questions were part of the voir dire process, a preliminary investigation into the bias of the jurors.
In a separate filing, the U.S. government objects to nine of the proposed questions, which prosecutors say conflict with the purpose of voir dire, which is to ensure an impartial jury.
“The government specifically objects to questions 1 through 9 in Part A of the defendant’s proposed voir dire, which go far beyond what is necessary to ensure that the right to a fair trial is not prejudiced by pre-trial publicity the process.
The defense asks numerous open-ended questions about the opinions potential jurors have formed about the case, the defendant, and the defendant’s businesses, wondering whether potential jurors can “completely ignore” what they have seen before.
This is unnecessarily intrusive and goes beyond the purpose of voir dire, which is to ensure that jurors can be fair and impartial regardless of their previous experience, whether for example exposure to the press about the case, a previous incident or being a victim of a crime, or a career in cryptocurrency.”
Bankman-Fried is currently awaiting trial in connection with the high-profile collapse of crypto exchange FTX in 2022. He is accused of mishandling billions of dollars in customer funds and defrauding investors. If convicted, he faces decades behind bars.
Last month, the judge in the case reportedly considered delaying the trial date to allow Bankman-Fried more time to review the evidence against him.
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