FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF’s) doctors have come to his rescue as they shared that SBF’s criminal trial was affected because of his neurodivergence disorders. They opined that his disorders led to “long winded answers” that frustrated the court and proved detrimental to his case.
The amicus appeal was made by Dr. Alexander Westphal, Dr. Marc Woodbury-Smith, Dr. Kenneth J. Weiss, Dr. Nancy Perry, Dr. Clare S. Allely, Dr. Colleen Berryessa, Dr. Mark Stokes and Dr. Elliot Atkins.
In a Second Circuit Appeals Court amicus brief supporting SBF, the doctors said that SBF is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) that “posed serious challenges during proceedings in this case.”
Doctors further claimed the guilty’s neurodivergence disorders proved to detriment his trials, especially in the Manhattan district court’s ruling where “the judge repeatedly chided Mr. Bankman-Fried for his lengthy responses and for attempting to clarify or rephrase questions” . The doctors clarified that his attempts to clarify were a trait of ASD patients to literally understand language.
The appeal read, “Amici are experts on neurodiversity, not the rules of evidence or criminal procedure. As experts in neurodiversity, however, amici believe several rulings worked to Mr. Bankman-Fried’s particular detriment because of his neurodivergence. We focus on two: (1) subjecting Mr. Bankman-Fried to a separate cross-examination in advance of his actual testimony before the jury; and (2) the unavailability of documents from FTX despite their apparent availability to the government.”
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After the judge chided him, doctors wrote that SBF began over-correction before the jury.
SBF’s responses before the jury on cross-examination were frequently short, mostly “Yup”, which was not the case when he was outside the jury. As a result, his response was misconstrued as arrogance, and indifference.
The doctors added that SBF was deprived of proper ADHD medication in the first three weeks of the trial and absence of a “range of FTX documents” also affected his trials.
The doctors wrote that those with ASD “can find a concrete anchor for their responses” if they review “the specific documentation and the precise wording of corporate policies, advice, emails, etc.” In absence of these, his vague responses appeared to be uncooperative and evasive.
The doctors added that without doses of ADHD medication or even changing dosages can result in withdrawal symptoms.
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The filing concluded, “The effects of neurodivergence permeated Mr. Bankman-Fried’s trial. That same neurodivergence should be understood and considered in evaluating this appeal as well.”
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