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‘He was born this way’: Martin Shkreli’s attorney offers defense as trial opens.

K

KSweeley

Member
Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...s-trial-opens/?wpisrc=al_alert-economy&wpmk=1

Martin Shkreli is odd, his attorney told a federal court on Wednesday. The former hedge fund manager’s investors and colleagues made fun of him behind his back and wondered whether he was autistic. Some questioned his sexuality, the jury was told.

“Is he strange? Yes. Will you find him weird? Yes,” said Shkreli’s attorney Benjamin Brafman. “But they [his investors] used his genius and made millions… despite his flaws and dysfunctional personality, Martin Shkreli is brilliant beyond words.”

Shkreli, best known for raising the price of Daraprim — a 62-year-old drug primarily used to treat newborns and HIV patients — from $13.50 to $750 a pill, went on trial Wednesday for allegedly defrauding investors. After struggling for more than two days to seat a jury, Shkreli’s attorney spoke directly to the Brooklyn native’s reputation as the worst of Wall Street.

“As Lady Gaga would say: He was born this way,” Brafman said.
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R

rjc571

Banned
”Is he strange? Yes. Will you find him weird? Yes," said Shkreli's attorney Benjamin Brafman
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If I'm ever charged with a crime, this is definitely the first thing I'd want my attorney to say about me.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
3GnsAQr.jpg


Well, only one in two million people has what we call the "evil gene". Hitler had it, Walt Disney had it, and... Martin Shkreli has it.
 
K

KSweeley

Member
WaPo also reports that there was difficulties seating a jury in this case:

The trial got off to a slow start as lawyers struggled to seat an impartial jury. Over three days, more than 250 prospective candidates were dismissed for their views of the defendant.

One juror said Wednesday: “The only thing I would be impartial about is which prison he goes to.” Another said he didn’t like Shkreli and “I don’t understand why someone would take a medication that people need and jack up the price.” The potential jurors voice was shaking as he turned to Shkreli and raised his fist. “I would just go over there … is he just stupid or crazy?,” the potential juror said.

“He is probably guilty and there is no way I can let him slide,” a third potential juror said. He then added that he didn’t like that Shkreli had been disrespectful to the Wu Tang Clan. Shkreli purchased the only known copy of a Wu Tang Clan album for $2 million and didn’t release parts of the album until after President Donald Trump was elected.

Brafman appealed to egos of the seven women and five men chosen for the jury. They had survived more than two days of intense questions and were “savvy New Yorkers” and would be able to use their “street smarts” to see that Shkreli is not guilty.

“You can’t convict him for the people skills he lacked,” he said. “If you want to call him names, call him names, just don’t call him guilty.”
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Z

ZeoVGM

Banned
Oh god, I didn't expect him to actually be referring to Lady Gaga when I read the thread title.

Embarrassing.
 
ThisGuy

ThisGuy

Member
ZeoVGM said:
Oh god, I didn't expect him to actually be referring to Lady Gaga when I read the thread title.

Embarrassing.
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He was driving one day and heard the song on Pandora.

*camera zooms as our protagonists eyes widened and the stunning revelation bursts in like a married man walking in on his wife taking a lover
 
H

Hazmat

Member
Assholes cannot be held guilty for the crime of being an asshole. It's a scorpion and the frog kind of thing.

If he is a shit, you must acquit.
 
S

SeanC

Member
How is "hey guys he's a little weird" legal defense and what PhD are they going to get on the stand to even get behind this?
 
D

Dynasty

Member
Been looking forward to this for a while, it is certainly going to be interesting since it is Martin.

Just a note remember Martin isnt on trial for raising the price of drugs.
 
D

Dr.Acula

Banned
“But they [his investors] used his genius and made millions… despite his flaws and dysfunctional personality, Martin Shkreli is brilliant beyond words.”
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So being a genius is ramping up the price of a drug that people depend on for life and committing securities fraud?

The original downfall of the funds came down to one stock, according to the indictment: Orexigen Therapeutics. To short biotech stocks, Shkreli would have had to borrow shares in biotech companies, sell them, and ideally buy them back and return them at a lower price in order to pocket the difference. What he supposedly did wrong: The indictment says that in 2011, Shkreli sold short 32 million shares of Orexigen—but he never actually borrowed all of them. The MSMB fund "failed to locate" the rest of the shares it owed, taking a loss of more than $7 million.
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He only actually borrowed a portion of the shares he shorted, and when his bet failed he got caught.

"Brilliant beyond words?"

The reason he was able to generate the kind of money he did in such a short time is because he did it so illegally, that people don't do what he does because they're always caught.

It would be like saying someone was a genius for stealing the payroll on Tuesday only to get caught on Thursday when everyone's cheques bounced.
 
A

adj_noun

Member
Ladies and gentlemen, my client is a scoundrel and a knave of the highest order. Merely looking at him makes me want to spit. But this is America, and in America rah rah ah-ah-ah! Ro mah ro-mah-mah! Gaga oh-la-la! Want your bad romance!
 
I

Imbarkus

As Sartre noted in his contemplation on Hell in No Exit, the true horror is other members.
Will there ever be a day when we don't label fucking over millions of people to make more money for yourself brilliant?
 
D

Dynasty

Member
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