David Mills, the Stanford University instrumentality prof who oversaw Sam Bankman-Fried‘s (SBF) defence during his caller fraud trial, acknowledged that the lawsuit was “almost intolerable to win” during a Dec. 12 interview with Bloomberg.
According to Mills, the prosecution’s robust lineup of witnesses, which included cardinal FTX insiders similar Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh, importantly tilted the lawsuit against the fallen crypto mogul.
“I thought it was astir intolerable to triumph a lawsuit erstwhile 3 oregon 4 founders are each saying you did it. Even if they’re each lying done their teeth, it’s really, truly hard to triumph a lawsuit similar that.” Mills remarked.
Mills besides characterized SBF arsenic a problematic witness nether cross-examination, highlighting that SBF repeatedly disregarded ineligible counsel’s strategies for addressing questions during the cross-examination process.
Mills underscored the value of his projected defence strategy for SBF, which was to admit the allegations against him, hinting astatine a compelling communicative that could unfold from this admission. Mills acknowledged that Bankman-Fried had trouble accepting this strategy. The situation of opposing the testimonies of 5 individuals with conscionable 1 counter-argument became adjacent much strenuous owed to SBF’s predominant straying from the prearranged defence strategy.
SBF’s proceedings occurred successful October, astir a twelvemonth aft FTX’s bankruptcy filing. The speech laminitis was found guilty connected each 7 counts and faces much than 100 years successful situation for his relation successful the illness of his crypto empire.
Trial observers highlighted the inefficacy of SBF’s defense, noting that his ineligible squad struggled to discredit the bulk of the grounds presented by the prosecution. Moreover, astir of those testifying against him were erstwhile associates, which compounded his challenges.
What adjacent for SBF’s ineligible battle?
Following his conviction, the imaginable for an entreaty has been debated. However, SBF’s pb counsel, Mark Cohen, precocious told Judge Lewis Kaplan that their lawsuit was not filing post-trial motions.
Meanwhile, SBF inactive faces a 2nd proceedings slated for March adjacent year. He faces charges involving 5 counts of slope fraud and bribery. Additionally, his sentencing for the archetypal proceedings has been scheduled for March 28.
The station Sam Bankman-Fried’s defence counsel recovered lawsuit ‘almost intolerable to win’ appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.