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

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has formally withdrawn his request for a retrial, citing doubts about receiving a fair hearing. Bankman-Fried, currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for fraud and conspiracy related to FTX's collapse in 2022, indicated that he might refile the motion after the outcome of his direct appeal and a related request for reassignment are determined. 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 drafted the motion himself while in detention, with minimal assistance, and consulted with his lawyers and family members for editorial input. He shared earlier drafts with a New York attorney but noted that the attorney had no significant contribution to the final motion. A Rule 33 motion, which Bankman-Fried had filed, is a formal request for a new trial based on new evidence or in the interest of justice. His appeal is currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, where his lawyer, Alexandra Shapiro, argued during oral arguments in November that the original trial was fundamentally unfair due to limitations on the evidence Bankman-Fried could present to the jury.