Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has faced another denial of his request for temporary release from prison. The ruling made it clear that he does not possess the authority to inspect every piece of evidence.
Judge Lewis Kaplan declared that any time pressure that SBF now claims “while incarcerated largely would be of his own making.”
Judge Kaplan Alleges SBF Had Plenty Of Time To Review Evidence
In a recent court filing, Judge Kaplan denied the request made by SBF’s lawyers for his release from prison to enable him to better prepare for his trial scheduled for October 3.
Kaplan explains that SBF had ample time outside of prison before his bail was revoked on August 11. He had been under house arrest at his parent’s residence for seven months, during which there were no reported issues with internet and telephone connectivity.
“Whatever time pressure the defendant now claims to face given the imminence of the trial date and the claimed limitations on his access to ESI while incarcerated largely would be of his own making.”
Authorities sent SBF back to jail on allegations of leaking the private journals of his former girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, to the New York Times. They asserted that this amounted to witness tampering due to Ellison’s status as a key prosecution witness.
Kaplan contends that SBF received leniency and mutually agreed upon the court date. He further implied that he had ample time to strategize and conduct research in anticipation of the impending court date.
SBF further learned he lacks the entitlement to review all the evidence against him.
“No represented defendant has a constitutional right to inspect every bit of discovery.”
Mounting Evidence Against SBF In Recent Times
Kaplan asserts that during SBF’s time at his parent’s residence, there were no hindrances to his trial preparations. However, he did acknowledge there were materials that the government only recently disclosed.
On August 29, reports revealed that SBF’s lawyers challenged the prosecutor’s decision to release an additional “4 million pages of discovery.”
The lawyers contended that being so close to the court date was impeding his chances of a fair trial. They explained he did not have sufficient time to review all the evidence before the court date.
SBF’s legal team further declared that before being incarcerated, he was spending the majority of his time under house arrest reviewing materials:
“Before his bail was revoked, Mr. Bankman-Fried was spending 80-100 hours a week reviewing the voluminous discovery and creating detailed analyses that he could update constantly and share with his attorneys.”
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