Prosecutors of the US Department of Justice said that Sam Bankman-Fried’s proposed questions in voir dire are “unnecessarily intrusive.”
In a letter sent to Judge Lewis Kalpan, of the Southern District of New York, prosecutors wrote that FTX asked several questions that ‘goes beyond the purpose of voir dire.’
“The defense requests numerous open-ended questions about what opinions potential jurors have formed about the case, the defendant, and the defendant’s companies, and asks whether potential jurors can ‘completely ignore’ what they have previously seen,” stated the letter.
Earlier this week, the founder of collapsed crypto exchange FTX, SBF and the DOJ proposed voir dire questions. These questions intended to query whether jurors were familiar with the case and it was supposed to ultimately help both the parties to determine a fair jury irrespective of their prior experience.
The letter classifies that questions about effective altruism and ADHD are not just unnecessary but it attempts to enhance the defense credibility as it leads to believe that the defendant was ‘amassing wealth in order to improve the world.’
Furthermore, prosecutors noted questions regarding political donations and lobbying by clearly stating that it’s all irrelevant. “The Government has not suggested, and does not intend to argue, that it is improper, standing alone, to donate large amounts of money to political candidates or to do so to advance one’s interests,” the letter said.
The DoJ examined that the government is seeking evidence that Sam Bankman, through FTX, made such donations using stolen funds that prosecutors believe he did it to accrue regulatory benefits for FTX.
“Even if such questions were otherwise proper, the defense has not adequately substantiated the defendant’s diagnosis or its symptoms,” the letter added at the end, “the defense has submitted only a letter from a psychiatrist who was employed by the defendant as FTX’s in-house coach.”
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