Ex-CEO’s reputation precedes him, affects jury selection
NEW YORK — Several potential jurors at the federal securities fraud trial of Martin “Pharma Bro” Shkreli were excused on Monday after telling the judge they couldn’t be impartial toward the flamboyant former pharmaceutical CEO because of his notoriety for raising the cost of a life-saving drug 5,000 per cent.
At jury selection in a Brooklyn courtroom, U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto questioned the potential jurors at sidebars out of earshot from Shkreli. One called him “the face of corporate greed,” another labeled him “the most hated man in America” and a third gestured as if wringing his neck.
Yet another was sent home after confiding that when she saw Shkreli sitting at the defence table, “I said in my head, ‘That’s a snake.’”
Opening statements could come as soon as Tuesday.