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Sam Bankman-Fried Cannot Blame Lawyers in Opening Statement: Judge
Summary: U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled on Sunday that Sam Bankman-Fried could not blame FTX's lawyers for the company's collapse or operations in his opening statement. However, he was still given the opportunity to present an "advice-of-counsel" defense at a later date. Bankman-Fried's defense team told the Department of Justice and the court earlier that ...
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled on Sunday that Sam Bankman-Fried could not blame FTX's lawyers for the company's collapse or operations in his opening statement. However, he was still given the opportunity to present an "advice-of-counsel" defense at a later date.
Bankman-Fried's defense team told the Department of Justice and the court earlier that he planned to argue that FTX's counsel "were involved" in certain decisions that the company made. However, Kaplan noted in an order on Sunday that the argument could confuse or prejudice jurors due to a lack of specifics. While he prohibited the defense team from referring to external counsel in his opening statement, Bankman-Fried's attorneys could later raise the issue if they notified the judge and the DOJ in advance, in the absence of the jury.
Author: Katie Lin
Tags: Bankman-Fried,counsel,Department of Justice,FTX,Kaplan,lawyers,Lewis Kaplan,opening statement,SAM BANKMAN-FRIED
Link: Sam Bankman-Fried Cannot Blame Lawyers in Opening Statement: Judge [Copy]
