The post Sam Bankman-Fried Appeals Conviction, Seeks Retrial appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

On September 13, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) filed an appeal to overturn his last November conviction on fraud and conspiracy charges. In a 102-page filing, SBF’s legal team argued the trial was unfair, calling it a “sentence first, verdict afterward” situation. They claimed the judgment was rushed and biased. SBF’s Legal Team Claims He Was Presumed Guilty From the Outset Led by attorney Alexandra Shapiro, SBF’s lawyers stated that he was never presumed innocent. They argued that everyone involved, including the judge, assumed his guilt from the start. “Sam Bankman-Fried was never presumed innocent. He was presumed guilty — before he was even charged. He was presumed guilty by the media. He was presumed guilty by the FTX debtor estate and its lawyers. He was presumed guilty by federal prosecutors eager for quick headlines. And he was presumed guilty by the judge who presided over his trial,” the lawyers lamented. Read more: FTX Collapse Explained: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Empire Fell The defense accused US District Judge Lewis Kaplan of bias, alleging he influenced the trial’s outcome. Shapiro contended that Kaplan’s remarks during the trial suggested guilt before the case had concluded. The defense also criticized the judge for restricting key arguments that could have demonstrated SBF’s attempts to stabilize FTX. “Many of the judge’s rulings were not just erroneous but unbalanced — repeatedly putting a thumb on the scale to help the government and thwart the defense. But that is not all. The judge continually ridiculed Bankman-Fried during trial, repeatedly criticized his demeanor, and signaled his disbelief of Bankman-Fried’s testimony,” the lawyers wrote. SBF’s legal team further argued that the jury saw only “half the picture” regarding FTX user funds. They claimed the prosecution misrepresented the case by portraying the funds as permanently lost, while SBF allegedly caused the loss…

---

Filed under: News - @ September 14, 2024 9:16 pm