Shkreli jury pool holds nothing back

Several potential jurors at the federal securities fraud trial of Martin Shkreli were excused on Monday after telling the judge they couldn’t be impartial toward the flamboyant former pharmaceutical CEO because of his notoriety for raising the cost of a lifesaving drug 5,000 percent.

At jury selection in a Brooklyn courtroom, U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto questioned the potential jurors at sidebars out of earshot from Shkreli. One called him “the face of corporate greed,” another labeled him “the most hated man in America” and a third gestured as if wringing his neck.

Opening statements could come as soon as Tuesday.

Since his high-profile arrest in late 2015 when he was led into court in a gray hoodie, the 34-year-old Shkreli has been free on bail and free to speak his mind on social media in ways that could complicate his defense.

Though Shkreli’s notoriety came from Daraprim, the federal securities fraud case is unrelated. Prosecutors say that after Shkreli lost millions of dollars through bad trades through his side-business hedge fund, he looted a second pharmaceutical company for $11 million to pay them back.