Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is calling for a new trial, claiming everyone, including the chairman, suspected his guilt before his legal battle even began.
In a new filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Bankman-Fried’s attorneys say their client saw only one-sided rulings during the trial led by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.
According to the lawyers, Judge Kaplan even ridiculed Bankman-Fried in front of the jury.
“During the proceedings, the court made little pretense of objectivity or balance. In addition to debunking Bankman-Fried’s defenses, the judge repeatedly made caustic comments that undermined the defense and counsel, even mocking the defendant’s own testimony during pretrial hearings and before the jury.”
The lawyers also say the trial was far from fair after everyone accepted Bankman-Fried’s guilt.
“The principles of due process were swept away by a tsunami of ‘first judgment after the fact’ as everyone rushed to judgment after the collapse of the FTX. Sam Bankman-Fried was never presumed innocent. He was presumed guilty – before he was even charged. He was found guilty by the media. He was deemed guilty by the FTX debtor and his lawyers. He was found guilty by federal prosecutors eager for quick headlines. And he was found guilty by the judge who presided over his trial.”
Sam Bankman-Fried is now asking the court to refer the case back for a new trial ‘before a different judge’.
On March 28, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan sentenced Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison and three years of supervised release for facilitating a scheme that siphoned more than $8 billion in FTX client funds to his trading firm, Alameda Research.
He also ordered the 32-year-old to pay an $11 billion forfeiture.
In April, Bankman-Fried filed an appeal in an attempt to overturn his conviction and sentence.
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Featured image: Shutterstock/Alberto Andrei Rosu