Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, withdrew his request for a new trial over doubts he would get a fair hearing in a letter to the judge overseeing his case.
Bankman-Fried, who is serving a 25-year sentence after being convicted of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy related to the 2022 collapse of FTX, said he could renew the motion after his direct appeal and a related reassignment request are decided.
The motion for a new trial was filed by his mother, Barbara Fried, claiming that new evidence in the case would justify a restart.
Bankman-Fried said he largely drafted the motion himself while detained at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center, with limited assistance.
Although he clarified that he is the “author of the letter” to the judge, he did consult his lawyers and his parents “since it concerns them both,” he said.
“They made editorial and organizational suggestions, some of which I incorporated into the motion,” Bankman-Fried said. “They also helped me print it, since I no longer had access to a word processor. I also shared earlier drafts with a New York attorney who was originally hired to represent me in the Rule 33 Motion before I decided to represent myself; they had no meaningful input on the final motion.”
A Rule 33 motion is a formal request to a federal court for a new trial based on new evidence or the interests of justice.
The appeal is currently before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. During oral arguments in November, her attorney, Alexandra Shapiro, argued that the trial was “fundamentally unfair,” including the limitations placed on what Bankman-Fried could present to the jury.
