Unlike other FTX executives, who pleaded guilty to misdeeds while running FTX and have likely provided a treasure trove of information to the authorities in exchange for a lighter sentence, Sam Bankman-Fried has continued to maintain his innocence.
However, as the date that his case gets sent to trial grows ever nearer, his legal team continues to look for ways to lighten their load once October rolls around.
Arguing Over Technicalities
Last month, SBF’s legal team attempted to get a bevy of charges dismissed, claiming that they had not been filed at the time he agreed to be voluntarily extradited to the United States.
However, the court responded that most of the charges had been filed before the extradition and that the remaining ones needed only the (cursory) approval from Bahamian authorities to be filed as well.
With that particular avenue of mitigating possible jail time closed, SBF’s lawyers seem to have switched to a different approach: arguing over what evidence is admissible in court.
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Discovery Process Taking Too Long
According to a letter submitted by SBF’s legal team on behalf of the defendant, the discovery process – a legal term referring to the period in which legal evidence is submitted and the defense is made aware of said evidence – is taking far too long, prompting fears that this could hamper the efforts of the defense.
Although SBF allegedly does not want to postpone the trial date, his legal team has stated that this is a possibility if other measures are not taken.
“As the trial date is now less than four months away, the defense is concerned that the late production of such voluminous and important discovery will impact the preparation of the defense. Mr. Bankman-Fried does not wish to adjourn the trial date. We raise these issues to alert the Court that Mr. Bankman-Fried may seek to leave to file additional motions […], including moving the Court to preclude the Government from using evidence produced too close to the trial date.”
The evidence currently available reportedly adds up to a whopping 3.6 million documents and upwards of 10 million pages.
The prosecution is currently working through the contents of Gary Wang’s laptop and the information spread across 30 separate Google accounts tied to FTX management.
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