Current:Home > MyArguments to free FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried get rough reception from federal appeals panel -ProfitBlueprint Hub
Arguments to free FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried get rough reception from federal appeals panel
View
Date:2025-04-24 11:50:18
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court in Manhattan seemed unreceptive Tuesday to arguments that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried should be released on bail before his trial starts in two weeks so he can better prepare for trial.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in Manhattan, and all three judges were dismissive of his lawyer’s claims that the First Amendment protects him from a judge’s conclusion that his actions while confined to his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California, for eight months violated the conditions of his $250 million bail.
Bankman-Fried, 31, was extradited to the United States last December from the Bahamas to face charges that he stole billions of dollars in FTX customer deposits, spending tens of millions on his businesses, speculative investments, charitable donations and campaign contributions meant to influence cryptocurrency regulation in Washington.
Bankman-Fried, who has pleaded not guilty, was jailed Aug. 11. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan concluded he had tried to influence witnesses against him, most recently by showing a journalist the private writings of a former girlfriend who served as CEO of Alameda Research — Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency trading hedge fund — before FTX collapsed last November.
Kaplan said at a recent hearing that the diary-like writings by Caroline Ellison were of the kind that a former romantic partner was unlikely to share with anyone “except to hurt, discredit, and frighten the subject of the material.”
Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, Mark Cohen, told the 2nd Circuit to overturn the revocation of bail so he can properly prepare for a trial set to start with jury selection on Oct. 3. He said documents in the case that his client can no longer access are so voluminous that they would be as tall as three skyscrapers if they were printed out in a single stack.
“You can’t prepare for trial this way, your honor, you just can’t,” Cohen said.
Circuit Judge William J. Nardini was particularly blunt in his assessment of Bankman-Fried’s prospects for release, saying that he should have considered his need to study documents in his case before taking actions that Kaplan concluded were designed to intimidate or influence witnesses.
“But, like anyone else, if it is true that he has intimidated witnesses, at a certain point, he makes his own bed and he sleeps in it,” Nardini said.
Circuit Judge Denny Chin asked if there was a First Amendment right “to influence or discredit a witness who may testify against you. Is there?”
“No, your honor, there isn’t,” Cohen responded.
Circuit Judge John M. Walker Jr. said Kaplan was in the best position to decide whether Bankman-Fried had intent to influence or intimidate witnesses and the 2nd Circuit must “afford tremendous and probably the greatest amount of deference” to his rulings.
The 2nd Circuit did not immediately rule.
___
For more AP coverage of Sam Bankman-Fried: https://apnews.com/hub/sam-bankman-fried
veryGood! (52)
Related
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- Presidential hopeful Baswedan says Indonesia’s democracy is declining and pledges change
- Small plane crash kills 3 in North Texas, authorities say; NTSB opens investigation
- NFL playoff schedule: Divisional-round dates, times, TV info
- South Korean president's party divided over defiant martial law speech
- How many delegates does Iowa have, and how will today's caucus impact the 2024 presidential nominations?
- Ariana DeBose Reacts to Critics Choice Awards Joke About Actors Who Also Think They're Singers
- Joseph Zadroga, advocate for 9/11 first responders, killed in parking lot accident, police say
- Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
- Deal reached on short-term funding bill to avert government shutdown, sources say
Ranking
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- Nicaragua says it released Bishop Rolando Álvarez and 18 priests from prison, handed them to Vatican
- This photo shows the moment Maine’s record high tide washed away more than 100-year-old fishing shacks
- Australia celebrates Australian-born Mary Donaldson’s ascension to queen of Denmark
- Nearly 400 USAID contract employees laid off in wake of Trump's 'stop work' order
- What a new leader means for Taiwan and the world
- Archeologists uncover lost valley of ancient cities in the Amazon rainforest
- Ohio mom charged after faking her daughter's cancer for donations: Sheriff's office
Recommendation
Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
Class Is Chaotically Back in Session During Abbott Elementary Season 3 Sneak Peek
Stock market today: Asia stocks follow Wall Street higher, while China keeps its key rate unchanged
UN agency chiefs say Gaza needs more aid to arrive faster, warning of famine and disease
Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
Philippine president congratulates Taiwan’s president-elect, strongly opposed by China
Warning of higher grocery prices, Washington AG sues to stop Kroger-Albertsons merger
Shipping container buildings may be cool — but they're not always green