As Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial enters its third week, the disgraced crypto founder’s lawyers are fighting to expand his access to the ADHD drug Adderall.
In a court filing Sunday evening, one of Bankman-Fried’s attorneys, Mark Cohen, wrote that the struggle to provide his client with an adequate supply of Adderall was hampering the defense’s ability to prepare its case and could weigh on the crucial issue. decision on whether Bankman-Fried will testify.
“Mr. Bankman-Fried has done his best to stay focused during the trial over the past two weeks,” Cohen wrote, arguing that the defense is increasingly concerned about whether Bankman-Fried can concentrate sufficiently to “participate meaningfully” in the trial.
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According to previous court documents, Bankman-Fried took Adderall tablets three to four times a day for the past three years, which his lawyers say is a necessary medication for the famously hyperactive crypto founder. When drafting questions for potential jurors, her attorneys wanted to detect any potential bias regarding Bankman-Fried’s body language caused by her ADHD.
Bankman-Fried had little success asking the court to expand her access to Adderall after U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan revoked her bond in August, after Bankman-Fried shared a private writing from the star witness of the prosecution, Caroline Ellison. Just two weeks after Bankman-Fried was remanded to Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, his lawyers told a hearing that he was not receiving medication and had a limited amount of drugs. a separate depression medication he was taking.
Although access to medication was notoriously difficult at the detention center, Kaplan decided that Bankman-Fried would receive the treatments for ADHD and depression. However, since his trial began in early October, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers have argued that long court days prevent him from taking the doses he needs.
While Kaplan asked Bankman-Fried’s lawyers to work with the Bureau of Prisons to determine an appropriate timeline, Cohen wrote in Sunday’s filing that the defense team received “no response” despite “numerous » emails and voicemails. Their proposal is to give Bankman-Fried a time-release dose that can last all day, although Cohen noted they can’t be sure how effective it is. He further requested that the court should adjourn on Tuesday if a suitable solution was not found.
The back-and-forth over Adderall is indicative of the broader struggles defendants in custody face to adequately prepare for trial, from access to electronic discovery to medication. In Bankman-Fried’s case, his lawyers argue that his access to Adderall could determine whether the FTX founder decides to speak out in his own defense as the government’s case against him becomes increasingly dire. The first and second weeks of the trial saw members of his inner circle, including former CTO Gary Wang and Ellison, detail how Bankman-Fried asked them to use the crypto exchange’s customer deposits to cover huge holes in the balance sheet of its associated trading company. , Alameda Research.
The Justice Department hopes to finish presenting its evidence by the end of October. Bankman-Fried will then have his own with a verdict expected at the end of November.