Sam Bankman-Fried, the creator of FTX, is having problems concentrating during his criminal trial, according to his attorneys, since he isn't taking his daily prescription of Adderall as directed. Bankman-Fried's attorneys claimed in a letter to the judge on Sunday that he has been without his medicine for the majority of the day and is therefore unable to focus as the defense gets ready to present its case.
The defense of the founder of FTX claims that improper Adderall dosing prevents trial participation and requests medication adjustment.
To address the prescription issue, Sam Bankman-Fried's attorneys requested that the judge postpone Tuesday's sessions. They asked the court to permit them to provide Bankman-Fried his daily Adderall doses if that wasn't practicable.
Before being hauled to court, Bankman-Fried, according to attorney Mark Cohen, takes one Adderall dose every morning before 6 a.m. However, the filing claims that wears off well before the 9:30 a.m. start of the hearings. Bankman-Fried receives another dose after arriving back at the jail between 8 and 9 p.m.
Cohen pointed out that the predicament has a direct bearing on the crucial decision of whether Bankman-Fried would take the stand. Growing concern is caused by Bankman-Fried's limited availability to Adderall. Cohen underlined that because he is having trouble focusing at his normal level, he is less able to participate fully in the defense's presentation.
Judge and prosecutors suggested giving Bankman-Fried an extended-release dose on Monday morning to see whether it would be beneficial. However, his attorneys are concerned that the strategy won't succeed because the medication won't be supplied by the jail personnel or because it is useless. Cohen penned:
Even if this happens, there is currently no way to predict whether Mr. Bankman-Fried will benefit from the extended-release dose.
According to his attorneys, Bankman-Fried has sought to take his prescribed dosage of Adderall XR, but the jail medical staff has stopped him from doing so. They claim they have made fruitless attempts to have the problem resolved with the Bureau of Prisons.
FTX's 30-year-old founder is accused with wire fraud and bank fraud. FTX was a failing cryptocurrency exchange. He was detained in the Bahamas in December, and his bail was revoked in August as a result of his release to the media of Caroline Ellison's journal extracts.
In his not guilty plea, Bankman-Fried claimed that he had no desire to deceive anyone. Any errors, according to his attorney, were caused by the company's disorganized management after its collapse in November.
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