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Comment by jandrese | Hacker News Reader

Any lawyer worth their salt would tell their client to not talk to the press. There's literally no upside and unlimited downside.

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He's already fuxx0red so getting in front of the media and trying to humanize himself while controlling the public interpretation of what happened is perhaps the only way to avoid getting continually pilloried. I think this is a thought-out move...his parents are law professors. It's not a Shia LaBeouf type of self-flagellation, I don't think.

One thing I learned from the Martin Shkreli saga is that, if the people hate you enough for something atrocious that is technically lawful, the government will poke holes in you until they find something not-atrocious that is clearly unlawful. There's probably value in winning the public over, even if they don't technically have a say in the legal proceedings.

For years I’ve wondered how much SBF’s parents knew about FTX’s operations but I think it’s fair to say they’re either (a) completely uninvolved/ignorant of the details of his situation or (b) giving him some really shit legal advice. I suppose it’s possible they’re so high up in their ivory tower they’ve forgotten there are actual consequences behind the hypotheticals they dream up for their students. Judging by his excel workbook “balance sheet” situation though I’m more inclined to believe everyone even tangentially involved has been misled. I doubt anyone knew the full extent of the fuckery aside from SBF.

They were involved enough to get their names on a $14M condo in the Bahamas. Will be interesting to learn whose funds paid for it.

The upside is establishing a counter-narrative in the media. The hope is to inoculate the general public with the story of your defense, so that people who have been exposed to your defense theory are more likely to be on your jury. I'm not vouching for the strategy, but it's far from (legal) suicide.

If a potential jury member knows about him they'll be excused from the jury. It's part of the selection process, and one reason jury selection is hard when you have high profile cases like this.

It can happen that way. It can also happen another way where knowing about him isn't enough to be excused. It depends.

It's not just about the jury. Public opinion motivates and incentives all actors, from prosecutors, regulators and judges.

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