Football Player Turned Lawyer Denied Fraud Retrial Despite CTE

A former college football player turned attorney won’t get a retrial of his bank fraud convictions for bilking money from his clients, based on his claim that concussions he suffered on the gridiron excused his behavior, the Sixth Circuit ruled Wednesday.

The defendant, George E. Skouteris Jr., argued that the trial court should have instructed the jury that it could find he has diminished mental capacity due to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, making it impossible for him to form intent.

But the argument “has an obvious flaw—Skouteris needed to act with knowledge, not purpose,” to commit bank fraud, the US Court ...