Sam Bankman-Fried Drops Retrial Bid, Citing Unfair Trial Concerns

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has formally withdrawn his motion for a retrial, citing concerns that he would not receive a fair hearing. Bankman-Fried, who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for his role in the 2022 collapse of FTX, had initially filed the motion through his mother, Barbara Fried, who claimed that new evidence had come to light that warranted a new trial. However, in a letter to the presiding judge, Bankman-Fried stated that he may refile the motion after the outcome of his direct appeal and a related request for reassignment have been decided. The original motion was largely drafted by Bankman-Fried himself while he was being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, with some input from his lawyers and family members. 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 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. During a recent hearing, Bankman-Fried's attorney, Alexandra Shapiro, argued that the initial trial was fundamentally unfair, citing restrictions on the evidence that Bankman-Fried was allowed to present to the jury.