Bankman-Fried Drops Request for New Trial, Citing Fairness Concerns

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has officially withdrawn his motion for a retrial, citing doubts about receiving an impartial hearing. Currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy related to FTX's collapse in 2022, Bankman-Fried indicated that he might reconsider filing for a new trial after the outcome of his direct appeal and a related request for the case to be reassigned. The initial motion for a new trial was submitted by his mother, Barbara Fried, who argued that newly discovered evidence warranted a retrial. Bankman-Fried, who drafted the motion himself with limited assistance while in detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, consulted with his lawyers and family members, incorporating some of their suggestions into the final document. He shared earlier drafts with a New York attorney but noted that this attorney had minimal input into the final motion. A Rule 33 motion, which Bankman-Fried filed, is a formal request to a federal court for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence or in the interest of justice. His appeal is currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, where his lawyer, Alexandra Shapiro, argued during November's oral arguments that the original trial was fundamentally unfair, including the limitations imposed on the evidence Bankman-Fried could present to the jury.