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

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-defunct FTX cryptocurrency exchange, has formally withdrawn his motion for a retrial, expressing doubts about receiving a fair hearing. Currently serving a 25-year sentence for multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy related to FTX's collapse in 2022, Bankman-Fried indicated that he might reconsider his motion 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, citing the emergence of new evidence that could warrant a retrial. Bankman-Fried, who drafted the motion himself while in detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, clarified that although he sought input from his lawyers and family, the motion's content was largely his own work. He mentioned that his lawyers and family provided editorial suggestions and assisted with printing the document, as he no longer had access to a word processor. Bankman-Fried also shared earlier drafts with a New York attorney initially hired to represent him but decided to represent himself. The appeal is currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, where during November's oral arguments, his attorney Alexandra Shapiro argued that the original trial was fundamentally unfair, citing restrictions on the evidence Bankman-Fried could present to the jury.