FTX Founder Withdraws Request for New Trial Due to Fairness Concerns

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has formally withdrawn his request for a retrial, citing doubts about the possibility of a fair trial. 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 reconsider his motion after the resolution of his direct appeal and a related request for the reassignment of his case. The initial motion for a new trial was submitted by Bankman-Fried's mother, Barbara Fried, who claimed that newly discovered evidence would warrant a retrial. Bankman-Fried stated that he personally drafted the motion while in detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, with minimal 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. He also shared earlier drafts with a New York-based attorney who was initially hired to represent him in the Rule 33 motion before deciding to represent himself. A Rule 33 motion is a formal petition to a federal court 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 oral arguments in November that the trial was fundamentally unfair, including the limitations imposed on the evidence Bankman-Fried could present to the jury.