FTX Founder Withdraws Request for Retrial Citing Unfair Hearing 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Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has formally withdrawn his motion for a retrial, citing concerns that he would not receive a fair hearing.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 after being found guilty on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy related to FTX's collapse in 2022, indicated that he might renew the motion after the resolution 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, who claimed that newly discovered evidence warranted a retrial. Bankman-Fried revealed that he had largely drafted the motion himself while being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, albeit with limited assistance. Although he acknowledged being the primary author of the letter to the judge, he had consulted with his lawyers and parents, incorporating some of their editorial and organizational suggestions into the motion. A Rule 33 motion, which is a formal request for a new trial based on new evidence or in the interest of justice, was at the center of the appeal currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. During oral arguments in November, his attorney, Alexandra Shapiro, argued that the original trial was fundamentally unfair, highlighting restrictions on the evidence Bankman-Fried could present to the jury.