This is mainstream media being sensationalist per usual. This is what the original Coindesk article wrote.

"They appeared to oscillate between dejection and defiance, at times holding their heads in their hands and clasping their hands. Bankman-Fried’s mother audibly laughed several times when her son was referred to as a “fugitive” and his father occasionally put his fingers in his ears as if to drown out the sound of the proceedings."

It definitely sounds more like a stress response.