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- 1 Sam Bankman-Fried’s defense lawyers have raised concerns about Jury questions.
- 2 Mark Cohen said that removal of words allegedly while describing the crime of FTX founder shows that fraudulency by Fried is an established act.
The FTX founders’ defense team charged in a late Friday filing that some of the U.S. Department of Justice’s proposed juror questions could bias or prejudice potential jurors into thinking Sam Bankman Fried was guilty before the trial begins.
The attorney Mark Cohen wrote that the government’s proposed voir dire discourages full disclosure from potential jurors, fails to draw out adequate information to permit the defense to discover potential juror bias. It risks destroying the jury by presenting the allegations in a prejudicial manner.
Other Concerns Raised by Mark Cohen
Mark Cohen also specifies that by removing the word “allegedly” when narrating the crimes of Bankman-Fried is accused of, “improperly suggests that fraud by Mr. Bankman-Fried is an established fact.”
Other questions are limited and do not show that the potential jurors might be put at a risk of agreeing with prosecutors just because they are part of the federal government or if they lost money in crypto or they trust was the result of wrongdoing.
Cohen wrote that other proposed questions would provide jurors with instructions. He finished by saying “finally we specifically object to Question 31 which demands to extract the unrelated information.”
The question asks whether law enforcement has ever stopped and questioned potential jurors or their close friends or relatives. The question seems to be designed to gain the unconnected information concerning potential jurors encounters with law enforcement and law enforcement practices that disproportionately affect people of color.
Neither race nor police misconduct are applicable to the instant case. This question on the basis of race has risks improperly excluding potential jurors. Attorney with the DOJ objected to Bankman-Fried’s proposed questions. Later after some days, he added that some of them are unnecessarily invasive about the potential jurors’ existing thoughts on FTX and its related companies, as well as the case.
Like Friday’s filing from the defense, the DOJ objections also alleged that some of the proposed questions look as if crafted mainly for prime potential jurors to believe some defense arguments and otherwise bias them toward Bankman-Fried before the trial.
Voir dire is set to begin on October 3. In a separate filing earlier on Friday, the defense team said it had no objections with the judge giving immunity to two unnamed witnesses, Judge Kaplan asked if the defense would ask that the witness first invoke their Fifth Amendment right to not potentially incriminate themselves first during a hearing on Thursday.
Summary
The defense lawyers of Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX founder, have shared concerns about the U.S. Department of Justice’s proposed jury questions. This stated that they could bias potential jurors and taint the jury.
Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He is a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralisation, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.
