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Sam Bankman-Fried Withdraws New Trial Motion, Citing Fair-Hearing Concerns

Sam Bankman-Fried Withdraws New Trial Motion, Citing Fair-Hearing Concerns

Sam Bankman-Fried withdrew his Rule 33 retrial motion in New York, saying he may refile after his direct appeal and judge reassignment request are resolved.

Fact Check
The claim is supported by multiple sources gathered in this run. The directly fetched article "Sam Bankman-Fried drops new trial bid, seeks new judge" states that Bankman-Fried withdrew his Rule 33 motion and is still pursuing appeal and reassignment. Search evidence from "Sam Bankman-Fried withdraws new trial motion for now, says he won't get fair hearing from judge" specifically supports the fair-hearing concern and names Judge Lewis Kaplan. Search evidence from "Sam Bankman-Fried pulls motion for a new trial, still asks for new judge" supports the detail that he may renew or refile after the direct appeal and reassignment request are resolved. Because the underlying court filing was not directly accessible in this run, the assessment is likely_true rather than confirmed with high confidence.
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Summary

Sam Bankman-Fried, the FTX founder serving a 25-year prison sentence, temporarily withdrew his Rule 33 motion seeking a new trial in New York. He told Judge Lewis Kaplan that he needed to address questions about who drafted the filing, while also stating that he does not expect a fair hearing from Kaplan. Bankman-Fried said he drafted the motion while in a Brooklyn prison and may refile it after the court rules on his direct appeal and his request for the case to be reassigned. He was convicted on seven fraud counts in November 2023 and later sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Terms & Concepts
  • Rule 33 motion: A motion under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 33 that asks a court to vacate a verdict and grant a new trial if justice requires it.
  • Direct appeal: The standard appellate process in which a defendant asks a higher court to review a trial court’s judgment for legal or procedural error.
  • FTX: A collapsed cryptocurrency exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried.