Sam Bankman-Fried Is a Terrible Client | EUROtoday

In the weeks after Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX crypto alternate started to crumble final November, he selected to disregard essentially the most primary piece of authorized recommendation: Say nothing, or danger incriminating your self. He took media interviews. He appeared on podcasts. He tweeted incessantly. He began his personal Substack. He promised to testify in entrance of Congress, although he was arrested earlier than he obtained the prospect.

Starting immediately, Bankman-Fried will stand trial in a New York courtroom, accused of seven separate counts of fraud towards prospects, buyers, and lenders. FTX collapsed after customers tried to withdraw their cash from the alternate however had been unable to as a result of, the Department of Justice alleges, Bankman-Fried had funneled the cash into a sibling enterprise, Alameda Research, the place it was spent on high-risk crypto trades, debt repayments, private loans, luxurious purchases, and different firm bills.

The trial, whose end result will imply little for crypto companies or the individuals who misplaced cash in FTX, has already garnered loads of public consideration. The prosecution’s witnesses will embrace victims of the alternate’s collapse and Bankman-Fried’s one-time paramour, former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison. It could seem intuitive that Bankman-Fried, the protagonist, ought to have a talking function. But his legal professionals may nicely advise him to plead the Fifth Amendment and decline to testify.

In his public appearances earlier than his arrest, Bankman-Fried characterised the scenario as one huge mistake. There was negligence, he admits, however no felony intent to defraud. But his makes an attempt to clarify away the allegations may create complications for his authorized crew in courtroom. As the protection, the target is to “create an immaculate narrative,” says Jason Allegrante, chief authorized officer at crypto custody agency Fireblocks, to “present the best narrative the facts will support.” But when Bankman-Fried started “defending himself in the media and court of public opinion,” he risked “introducing into the public record a lot of information and material that can be used against him.”

As the trial progresses, Bankman-Fried’s protection crew might want to take those self same dangers into consideration in deciding who to position on the stand.

Bankman-Fried’s trial will final 4 to 6 weeks. First, the prosecution will lay out its case, calling all its witnesses—from FTX prospects to buyers to alleged “coconspirators.” Then the protection will select how you can reply. Under the US justice system, the prosecution should show guilt past a affordable doubt. Therefore, a viable protection technique, says Jordan Estes, companion at legislation agency Kramer Levin, is to “just poke holes in the government’s case” and decline to supply up any further witnesses.

Whether Bankman-Fried takes the stand or not will solely be determined, says Estes, as soon as the power of the prosecution’s case turns into clear. He is on no account required to testify. “It’s his decision. We’ll just have to wait and see,” she says. “If the government’s case isn’t going well—if they call witnesses that don’t appear very credible or the cross-examination goes terribly—there’s a possibility the defense will feel it doesn’t need to do anything.”

In any felony case, the choice to place the defendant on the stand is a “high-stakes moment,” says Allegrante. Doing so exposes them to questioning by the prosecution that they might in any other case keep away from, but additionally to the best way particular jurors may interpret their testimony. It introduces further variables to an atmosphere the protection hopes to fastidiously management.