Sam Bankman-Fried seeks new trial, blaming federal judge for ridiculing him

Jailed FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried is asking for a new trial, blaming a federal judge for preventing him from mounting a proper defense.

Lawyers for the former chief executive officer argued “everyone rushed to judgment” after FTX’s collapse and that fair-trial principles were swept away in a “sentence first-verdict afterwards tsunami,” according to a brief Friday in the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New York.

“When the government introduces evidence, defendants have the right to rebut that evidence and present their side of the story,” defense lawyers wrote. “But none of that happened here.”

Bankman-Fried was convicted in November of orchestrating a yearslong, multibillion-dollar fraud at FTX, the crypto empire that imploded in late 2022. He’s serving a 25-year prison sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan.

While defendants often attempt to overturn their convictions based on legal errors committed by a trial judge, Bankman-Fried’s appeal directly attacks Kaplan for alleged bias. He is seeking to have his case assigned to another judge.

“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,” Bankman-Fried’s lawyers wrote. “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.”

Bankman-Fried’s lawyers said the judge “repeatedly mocked defense counsel” and criticized their questioning in front of jurors, while going “out of his way to help the government in other ways.” They also said he “improperly prodded” jurors to reach a quick verdict, citing his invitation to jurors to stay late on the first day of deliberations while offering rides home and meals.