Lawyers of SAC Capital executive Michael Steinberg said in a memo that their client's case could be biased by the "wall-to-wall" media coverage. The memo claimed that news on the media mostly presumed Steinberg was guilty of the insider trading charges filed against him.
"The coverage has not only been ubiquitous, but its qualitative content has also been inflammatory, thereby heightening the risk that it could interfere with the ability of potential jurors to assess impartially the government's case against Mr. Steinberg and Mr. Steinberg's defense," said the memo.
In addition, the memo stated that these stories were most probably from government leaks. Because of the one-sided view of these stories, there was a possibility that potential jurors could be swayed by the press.
To remedy the situation, Steinberg's legal team has asked permission to make use of a questionnaire to ascertain a potential juror' bias towards the case. According to one legal expert, the chance of the request being granted was only slim.
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