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

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has formally withdrawn his request for a new trial, citing concerns that he may not receive a fair hearing. Bankman-Fried, who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence after being found guilty on multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy related to FTX's collapse in 2022, indicated that he might renew his motion for a retrial after the resolution of his direct appeal and a related petition for reassignment. The initial motion for a new trial was submitted by his mother, Barbara Fried, who claimed that newly discovered evidence warranted a retrial. Bankman-Fried revealed that he had largely drafted the motion himself while in detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, with limited assistance from his lawyers and family members. Although he acknowledged seeking editorial and organizational input from his lawyers and parents, he maintained that he was the primary author of the letter to the judge. A Rule 33 motion, which is a formal request for a new trial based on new evidence or in the interest of justice, is currently pending. The appeal is presently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, where his attorney, Alexandra Shapiro, argued during oral arguments in November that the trial was inherently unfair, citing restrictions on the evidence Bankman-Fried could present to the jury.