The prosecution has rested and the defense starts up on Thursday. The big question is whether or not SBF testifies in his own defense. This is something that rarely happens and only then as a hail mary when they’re going to lose anyway. It’ll probably go to the jury next week.
Do we have any tea leaf readings on the defense’s strategy? Sometimes I get the sense that the facts and the law are both firmly on the prosecution’s side, and the defense will come down to “I did it for reasons that transcend the law”. (Or more generically, “that law doesn’t apply to me.”)
Speculation is that the defense will be along the lines of, he was a wistful visionary and his underlings did those things without his knowledge or direction.
He could see the far off future, but dammit all, he couldn’t see what was going on right under his nose in the present.
He’s scheduled to testify tomorrow.
Is he definitely going to testify? The defense starts tomorrow. They may have other witnesses as well
From the New York Times,
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is planning to testify at his criminal fraud trial in Manhattan, his lawyer said on Wednesday.
The lawyer, Mark Cohen, confirmed Mr. Bankman-Fried’s plans at a hearing with prosecutors and the judge overseeing the case, which was held on the last day of a nearly weeklong break in the trial. Mr. Bankman-Fried, 31, is likely to begin testifying on Thursday, after federal prosecutors call their final witness in the morning.
This should be entertaining.
I can’t imagine this working out the way SBF thinks it will work out .
I think he thinks that he odds are incrementally better if he testifies and he may be correct. He may also think that he’s smart enough to outsmart very experienced legal professionals and if so he is sadly mistaken.
I wonder how his deposition went, and if his lawyers gave him a big pat on the back afterwards, and told him how great he was.
By all accounts, he is testifying against his lawyers advice but who knows?
Would he give a deposition in a criminal case?
Oh, good point.
Also why Catholics used to eat fish on “meatless” Fridays.
SBF is has a fondness for a reckless gamble if he thinks there’s a big payoff, it’s fair to say.
He has almost certainly produced to his own satisfaction some analysis that says something like, “I am currently pretty likely to go to jail. If I testify, the odds that it helps keep me out of jail are very slim. But staying out of jail is such an amazing pay off compared to, you know, the rest of my life in prison, that anything that might shift those odds even a little is worth it.”
I think that ignores a fairly large element, to wit: “If I testify it may greatly increase my chances of going to jail” but I am not a genius philanthropist cryptoguru, so what do I know?
SBF took the stand a little bit ago but without the jury present. They are doing a hearing on what can be discussed in front of the jury. He will give real testimony tomorrow first thing.
Here’s a report on what happened today. Kind of a trial run for the real trial tomorrow. SVF didn’t do well but at least he got to practice.
Although it’s slanted, I like The Verge’s reporting on today’s festivities.
Outstanding article.
Apparently the prosecutor went full on against SBF. Doesn’t that give him a bit of a warning and time to prepare?