Sam Bankman-Fried Drops Retrial Bid, Citing Fairness Concerns

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has officially withdrawn his motion for a retrial, citing concerns that he may not receive a fair hearing. The decision was communicated to the presiding judge in a letter. Bankman-Fried, currently serving a 25-year prison term for fraud and conspiracy convictions related to FTX's collapse in 2022, indicated that he might renew the motion after the outcome of his direct appeal and a related request for reassignment have been determined. 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 acknowledged drafting the motion himself while in detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, with limited external assistance. Although he sought input from his lawyers and family members, he maintained that he was the primary author of the letter to the judge. The motion was filed under Rule 33, a federal court provision allowing for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence or in the interest of justice. Bankman-Fried's appeal is currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, where his attorney, Alexandra Shapiro, argued during November's oral arguments that the original trial was fundamentally flawed due to restrictions on the evidence Bankman-Fried could present to the jury.