Sam Bankman-Fried wants to ask potential jurors about his ADHD

Sam Bankman-Fried wants to ask potential jurors at his upcoming fraud trial if they could “completely ignore” the fact that he has ADHD — which could affect his “physical behavior” in court.

The query and other unusual ones were proposed by Bankman-Fried, 31, as he and prosecutors put forth possible screening questions to help them choose a jury panel for his Oct. 2 trial in Manhattan federal court.

The shaggy-haired cryptocurrency mogul wants to tell those in the jury pool that his ADHD “might affect things like his physical behavior, body language, or eye contact” — and wants to further probe if they’ve never been exposed personally or professionally to the disorder.

“Could you completely ignore [his ADHD] if you were a juror in this case?” and never had prior exposure to the condition, the proposed questionnaire says.

Bankman-Fried — founder of the now-defunct FTX crypto exchange — also wants to ask prospective jurors about a philosophical movement called “effective altruism” that he and his brother Gabe have championed that focuses on finding the best ways to help others.

Specifically, the alleged crypto crook wants to know if they oppose the concept of “amassing wealth to support causes to improve the world,” and whether anything they heard about the movement would stop them from being fair at trial.


Sam Bankman-Fried
Sam Bankman-Fried wants to ask potential jurors if his ADHD would effect their fairness at trial.
REUTERS

Meanwhile prosecutors’ proposed questions were much more run-of-the-mill, including wanting to ask possible jurors whether they have ever invested in cryptocurrency, and their thoughts about digital assets and the industry.

The judge will ultimately rule on which questions to include on the final jury questionnaire.

Bankman-Fried’s ADHD has come up multiple times in past months as he asked a judge to order the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he is locked up pending trial, to provide him with meds for the condition so he can better prepare for trial.


A court artist's sketch of Sam Bankman-Fried shackled in court.
Bankman-Fried also wants to ask jurors if they oppose a philosophy he follows called Effective Altruism.
REUTERS

He was tossed behind bars last month after he allegedly leaked the diary of ex-girlfriend and business partner Caroline Ellison — which prosecutors said amounted to witness tampering since she took a plea deal and is expected to testify against him at trial.

Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to charges that he misused billions of customer funds to live large and back sketchy investments at the FTX-linked hedge fund Alameda Research.

The Manhattan US Attorney’s Office and a rep for Bankman-Fried both declined to comment Tuesday.