Martin Shkreli can't get a fair jury because everyone thinks he's an evil man snake
A New York judge is desperately searching for people who don't hate Martin Shkreli's guts.
The infamous ex-pharmaceutical company exec is set to stand trial for security fraud charges unrelated to the massive price hike on a life-saving AIDS drug that first put him in the headlines.
SEE ALSO:'Pharma bro' Martin Shkreli says he wasn't hit in the face by dog poopBut in order for him to do so, the court needs to find 12 impartial jurors who haven't already made up their mind about the kind of guy Shkreli is.
That seems to be an awfully tall order, according to various reports from the Brooklyn courtroom on Monday.
"I think [Shkreli's] a very evil man," the first candidate told the judge, per the Daily Beast's report.
The selection process only devolved further into Comedy Central roast territory from there.
"I believe the defendant is the face of corporate greed in America," one septuagenarian man proclaimed, according to Bloomberg.
"Who does that?" another women asked in regards to the sudden 5,000-percent increase Shkreli imposed on a vital drug as CEO of Turing. As she spoke, she apparently mimed the act of wringing the defendant's neck.
Several prospective jurors spoke of how their own experience with exorbitant drug prices would likely color their judgment.
Even those who didn't know who he was instinctively resented him.
"I looked right at him, and in my head I said, 'That's a snake,' not knowing who he is," one woman reportedly said.
The predisposed haters actually made up a relatively small fraction of the 130 prospective jurors, more than half of whom were dismissed on Monday, according to the Beast. Many of the candidates who left cited scheduling conflicts as well.
But the excoriation was one of the reasons Shrkeli's lawyer lobbied unsuccessfully to bar press from the proceedings last week.
"So much for the presumption of innocence," attorney for the defense Benjamin Brafman said Monday, predicting the coverage would further complicate the process.
Shkreli's own social media antics probably don't help either. In the months after the initial scandal, he parlayed his viral bit of fame into a troll career of harassing women on Twitter, beefing with various rappers, and livestreaming his entire life on YouTube.
Federal prosecutors are charging Shrkeli with defrauding hedge fund investors and ransacking another pharma company he founded, Retrophin, to pay them back.
He's also eschewed recommendations from his lawyers to quiet down ahead of his trial.
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