With the trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried three weeks away, the jury selection process has begun, with lawyers for both the defense and prosecution teams submitting proposed questions in separate filings on Monday evening.
The procedure of jury selection, or voir dire, allows the two sides to winnow down a broader pool of potential jurors to just 12, plus a few alternates, who ultimately will hear the case. As Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is overseeing the trial, laid out in a recent hearing, the jury selection process must be complete before the trial is set to begin on Oct. 3.
During voir dire, the judge—as well as the opposing legal teams—will examine prospective jurors for bias, with the two sides allowed a number of strikes to remove individuals from the pool. In guidance on the Southern District of New York website, Kaplan’s office says it uses the “struck panel method,” in which each side has a number of “peremptory challenges,” with the defense generally having more than the prosecution.
The questions filed by the defense and prosecution lawyers describe the potential biases each side will be looking for. In its questions, the prosecution is mostly concerned with whether prospective jurors have prior knowledge of the case and whether they already have informed opinions on Bankman-Fried—a daunting task given the widespread coverage of FTX’s collapse. The prosecution also notes that the trial is expected to last approximately six weeks.
Bankman-Fried’s defense lawyers submitted similar questions, with a few notable deviations. They plan to ask about several potentially controversial themes, including Bankman-Fried’s involvement with the charitable movement called effective altruism, which argues adherents should follow a rationalist approach to maximizing impact. As Bankman-Fried has frequently detailed in interviews, he chose a high-earning path, starting at the trading firm Jane Street, with the intent of donating a significant portion of his earnings. In one question, the defense lawyers ask whether prospective jurors “have any negative opinion about amassing wealth to support causes to improve the world or help others.”
Defense lawyers also plan to ask about Bankman-Fried’s prodigious history of political donations and lobbying, which is set to be a major theme of the case. While prosecutors removed a charge related to campaign finance fraud, they signaled that they intend to roll it into other relevant charges, as well as making it a focus in cases against other FTX executives.
In another line of questions, defense lawyers will inform prospective jurors that Bankman-Fried has ADHD, which they say may affect his body language, eye contact, and physical behavior. They plan to ask whether this will impact jurors’ opinion on Bankman-Fried.
The submission of questions is an indication that the trial is moving forward along the intended timeline. In late August, Kaplan revoked Bankman-Fried’s bail, sending him to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. While his lawyers have complained that Bankman-Fried has not had sufficient resources to prepare his defense, they declined to request a postponement.
