The jail gates continue to be locked for Sam Bankaman-Fried.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has turned down a request for early release filed by Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
On September 21st, a panel of three Circuit Judges, John Walker Jr., Denny Chin, and William Nardini, agreed that Sam Bankman-Fried could not be released before his October 3rd trial.
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In the filing for an appeal court, SBF's defense team argued that the earlier denial of early release essentially violated First Amendment rights. However, the appellate judges agreed with the judge presiding over SBF's criminal case, Lewis Kaplan, that Bankman-Fried's witness tampering allegations call for stricter actions.
Bankman-Fried previously admitted to sharing the private journals of Caroline Ellison, the former Alameda Research CEO, with a New York Times journalist. This action led to portions of the journal being published and was labeled as witness intimidation by prosecutors.
The court order elaborated on the thoroughness of the district court's examination, stating:
The record shows that the district court thoroughly considered all of the relevant factors, including <Bankman-Fried’s> course of conduct over time that had required the district court to repeatedly tighten the conditions of release.
The judges found the defense team's additional arguments unpersuasive and upheld that SBF had not effectively countered the presumption in favor of his detention.
Just weeks until the SBF trial commences, his defense team sought the man's early release, arguing that insufficient internet access hindered his ability to prepare an adequate defense.
The court's decision came after a September 19th hearing, where both the Justice Department and the defense had roughly five minutes each to present their respective positions. Judge Kaplan had revoked SBF's $250-million bail on August 11th, resulting in his detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
The US appellate court's decision to deny early release for Sam Bankman-Fried underscores the court's agreement with the initial ruling, specifically concerning concerns about witness tampering. The development also highlights the limitations of First Amendment arguments in securing early release from detention, setting a critical precedent for similar cases in the future.
