- Sam Bankman-Fried has filed a new appeal, arguing that the court unfairly excluded evidence related to FTX and Alameda’s solvency
- Bankman-Fried’s legal team has challenged the trial’s fairness, stating that it was blocked from presenting key testimony
- The appeal asserts that the district court’s rulings violated Bankman-Fried’s right to a fair trial and pushes for a new trial before a different judge
Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal team has filed a new appeal, alleging that the district court in his high-profile fraud trial unfairly prevented him from presenting key defense evidence, contributing to an unjust outcome. The core of their argument revolves around rulings that allowed the prosecution to paint a picture of billions of dollars being lost while barring the defense from introducing evidence suggesting FTX and Alameda were solvent at the time of the crypto exchange’s collapse. The defense also claims that the court’s actions “gutted” their ability to show that Bankman-Fried believed FTX’s collapse was a liquidity crisis rather than a solvency issue.
Court Excluded Key Evidence
Bankman-Fried was found guilty of seven counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money in October 2023 and has already lost one appeal of his 25-year sentence. The new appeal centers on the court’s decision to block the defense from introducing evidence regarding the actual value of FTX and Alameda’s assets, even though it allowed the prosecution to present a narrative that customers had lost all their money.
According to the filing, made Friday, this led the jury to hear a “one-sided” story, arguing that FTX still had billions in assets and that the exchange faced a liquidity crisis due to customer withdrawals, rather than insolvency. However, the court dismissed this line of defense as “immaterial as a matter of law.”
The appeal brief cites several witnesses from the prosecution, including FTX employees and customers, who testified about their inability to access funds. Bankman-Fried’s legal team argues that it was unjust for the jury to hear claims of loss without being allowed to weigh whether FTX could have recovered financially over time.
Bankman-Fried Wants Retrial
The defense also claims that the court unjustly prevented Bankman-Fried from testifying about his reliance on legal counsel in key decisions that led to FTX’s collapse. They argue that this decision, combined with a host of other procedural errors, tainted the trial. They are now seeking a retrial, demanding that the case be reassigned to a different judge for a fair hearing.
In the words of Bankman-Fried’s legal team, the trial court “swept away” the principle that a defendant is presumed innocent, replacing it with a “sentence first-verdict afterwards” approach. They insist that a fresh trial, before a new judge, is essential to ensure justice in the case of the once-celebrated FTX founder.
