Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Kudla stated that the Justice Department estimated the case would last between four and five weeks.
Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, former CEO of FTX, will spend at least 21 days in court as part of his criminal trial, which will commence in earnest on October 4 and continue until November 9, according to a recently released trial calendar posted to the public court docket.
The expanding trial schedule, released on September 28, commences on October 3 with jury selection. On October 4, the first official date of the Bankman-Fried trial, the seven fraud allegations against him will be discussed.
There are two substantive offenses for which the prosecution must persuade the jury that Bankman-Fried is guilty. Five additional “conspiracy” allegations require the prosecution to convince the jury that Bankman-Fried intended to commit the crimes.
There are fifteen complete trial days in October and six in November. The court will be out of session from October 20 to October 25 and on weekends. Public holidays occur on October 9 and November 10, and there is no scheduled trial on November 3.
Since August 11, the erstwhile CEO of FTX has been in pretrial detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center. To prepare for his imminent trial, Bankman-Fried’s attorneys have filed numerous motions for temporary release.
United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan denied his most recent appeal on September 28, citing Bankman-Fried’s youth and “very long sentence” if convicted as reasons for his possible flight risk. The author states that:
“If things begin to look bleak… maybe the time would come when he would seek to flee.”
However, Kaplan stated that he understood the defense’s concerns and has granted Bankman-Fried permission to appear in court at 7:00 a.m. local time on most trial days to speak with his attorneys before testimony begins.
During the September 28 hearing, assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Kudla stated that the Department of Justice estimated the case to last between four and eight weeks.
Following the collapse of FTX, SBF pleaded not guilty to seven counts of fraud and conspiracy and faces a maximum of 110 years in prison.
