Recently, there has been a development in the high-profile case involving the founder of FTX (the now-defunct crypto exchange), Sam Bankman-Fried. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan firmly denied a request for postponing the upcoming sentencing hearing.
The legal team of Bankman-Fried was seeking a 4 to 6-week adjournment, mentioning the requirement for extra preparation time. But the court’s basic refusal to even grant this particular extension does mark a massive moment in this legal saga.
Sam Bankman-Fried Sentencing Date Proceeds as Kaplan Denies Delay
SBF’s (Sam Bankman-Fried) defense submitted an official request for the sentence hearing’s adjournment, originally scheduled for 28th March 2024. This particular plea was actually grounded in the requirement of the defense for additional time to gather required materials and adequately prepare for the presentence interview.
The defense then emphasized the basic importance of this extra time for a fair and thorough preparation process.
Christian Everdell and Mark Cohen from Cohen & Gresser LLP wrote a letter that detailed: “The defense requires the additional time to collect materials necessary for the sentencing submission and to prepare for the presentence interview.”
Moreover, the defense of SBF highlighted the problem of unresolved counts present in the indictment that was scheduled for trial on 11th March 2024. They then argued that proceeding with the whole sentencing on the present counts without actually resolving the severed counts can actually lead to procedural inefficiencies and complications. They mentioned that this situation actually warranted a basic delay in the whole sentencing process.
In this conversation, the lawyers of SBF talked about issues related to the potential for an individual PSR (presentence investigation report) as well as an extra sentence hearing. They also highlighted the need for efficiency and fairness, mentioning that all conduct that is relevant needs to be taken into account in a comprehensive, single hearing.
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