1 year ago
On the opening time of Sam Bankman-Fried‘s transgression proceedings successful New York, U.S. authorities prosecutors told the tribunal that that nary plea deals had ever been nether information for the accused erstwhile CEO.
According to a partial transcript live-tweeted by Inner City Press, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Roos said connected behalf of the government:
“We raised the contented aboriginal if determination should beryllium plea discussions. The reply was no, truthful determination person been nary plea offers.”
Judge Lewis Kaplan past asked the defence whether the prosecutor’s relationship was accurate. Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, Mark Cohen, confirmed that determination had been nary specified offer.
A plea deal, had 1 been offered, mightiness person allowed Bankman-Fried to plead blameworthy successful speech for a reduced condemnation oregon dropped charges. However, successful the lack of specified an offer, Bankman-Fried has maintained a not blameworthy plea successful effect to the indictments filed implicit the past respective months
The determination against a plea connection is peculiarly important fixed that immoderate of Bankman-Fried’s erstwhile associates, namely Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh, person received and agreed to plea deals. These individuals are present wide expected to attest arsenic witnesses during the trial.
Jury enactment highlights conflicts of interest
The remainder of the trial’s opening time mostly focused connected assemblage enactment arsenic Judge Kaplan searched for imaginable conflicts of involvement among jurors.
Notably, a fig of jurors said that they were acquainted with the case, including 1 idiosyncratic who said that helium had learned astir FTX done the podcaster Joe Rogan. One juror said that his institution had mislaid wealth investing successful FTX and Alameda Research.
Two jurors stated that they oregon a household subordinate invested successful cryptocurrency and mislaid money, and 1 juror said that helium has felt negatively astir crypto since helium learned astir it. Another juror said that she erstwhile worked for Signature Bank, a now-collapsed slope that astatine 1 constituent provided services to Bankman-Fried’s FTX empire.
Certain jurors were dismissed from the case. The justice besides instructed jurors not to stock oregon station accusation astir proceedings and told jurors to enactment distant from coverage.
As stated by Judge Kaplan during the proceedings, the proceedings is projected to past for astir six weeks, perchance concluding successful mid-November.
The station Prosecutors accidental plea woody was ne'er considered for Sam Bankman-Fried appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.
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