Sam Bankman-Fried withdraws new trial request, maintains appeal

Sam Bankman-Fried paused his new trial request, citing concerns over the judge’s impartiality, but maintains his appeal and may resubmit the motion later. He claims sole authorship of the request.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, has temporarily withdrawn his request for a new trial in the criminal case concerning the cryptocurrency exchange. This decision was communicated to Judge Lewis Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Bankman-Fried explained that he does not believe he would receive a fair trial before Judge Kaplan at this time. He stated that he needs to focus on addressing questions raised by the judge, including concerns about the authorship of the Rule 33 motion, which seeks a new trial. Bankman-Fried insists he wrote the motion himself, with input only from his parents. The withdrawal was made "without prejudice," allowing Bankman-Fried to resubmit the request in the future, depending on the progress of his main appeal and any efforts to have the case reassigned to a different judge. He continues to appeal his conviction and sentence, and questions Judge Kaplan's impartiality. His mother, Barbara Fried, had previously filed a similar request, highlighting the family's ongoing challenge to the judicial process.