Sam Bankman-Fried Drops Request for Retrial, Citing Unfair Hearing Concerns

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-defunct FTX cryptocurrency exchange, has formally withdrawn his motion for a retrial, expressing doubts about receiving a fair trial. Bankman-Fried, currently serving a 25-year prison term for multiple counts of 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, citing newly discovered evidence that could warrant a retrial. Bankman-Fried drafted 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. 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 this development. The 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 due to restrictions on the evidence Bankman-Fried could present to the jury.