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Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has officially withdrawn his motion for a new trial, citing concerns that he would not receive a fair hearing. Bankman-Fried, who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for his role in FTX's 2022 collapse, indicated that he may refile the motion after the resolution of his direct appeal and a related request for the case to be reassigned. The initial motion for a retrial was submitted by Bankman-Fried's mother, Barbara Fried, who claimed that newly discovered evidence warranted a new trial. Bankman-Fried stated that he had primarily drafted the motion himself while in detention, with some assistance from his lawyers and family members. He noted that his lawyers and parents provided editorial suggestions and helped with printing the document, as he no longer had access to a word processor. Bankman-Fried also shared earlier drafts with a New York attorney who was initially hired to represent him in the motion. A Rule 33 motion allows a defendant to request a new trial based on new 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 original trial was fundamentally unfair due to limitations on the evidence Bankman-Fried could present to the jury.