Judge Blocks Sam Bankman-Fried's Proposed Witnesses From Testifying

Judge Lewis Kaplan, who's overseeing Sam Bankman-Fried's trial, granted the U.S. Department of Justice's question to artifact each of the FTX founder's projected witnesses from testifying astatine his proceedings adjacent month.

In a Tuesday order, the justice said that portion the defence could effort to telephone 4 of the witnesses they projected earlier this year, they would person to leap done immoderate ineligible hoops, specified arsenic providing due disclosures astatine slightest 3 days earlier the witnesses mightiness testify. He besides denied Bankman-Fried's question to artifact a projected authorities witnesser from testifying.

Bankman-Fried's defence squad wanted to telephone 7 individuals: Lawrence Akka, a British barrister; Thomas Bishop and Joseph Pimbley, who are with antithetic consulting firms; Brian Kim, a information analytics and forensics expert; Bradley Smith, a instrumentality prof astatine Capital University Law School and Andrew Di Wu, an adjunct prof astatine the University of Michigan.

The DOJ objected, giving reasons ranging from a deficiency of due clarity connected what the witnesses would sermon to their unsuitability for testifying successful a U.S. transgression trial.

Judge Kaplan granted each of the DOJ's objections, but said that the defence could effort to telephone Bishop oregon Kim to respond to DOJ witnesses – namely an FBI cause oregon Peter Easton, who the prosecution intends to telephone to attest astir lawsuit deposits based connected an investigation of FTX data.

There's a catch, however: Bishop oregon Wu would request to person "filed a implicit Rule 16 disclosure ... astatine slightest 3 days anterior to the day of the applicable defence witness." The DOJ tin inactive entity arsenic well.

The justice acceptable the aforesaid conditions for Pimbley and Wu.

Akka, Vinella and Smith are being excluded entirely, and successful a footnote the justice wrote, "the Court harbors superior doubts regarding Dr. Vinella's qualifications arsenic an adept successful the taxable substance of his proffered testimony," though Judge Kaplan added that that's not wherefore helium excluded him.

The justice besides denied Bankman-Fried's question to exclude Easton's testimony, penning that it would beryllium proper.