US authorities confirms it didn’t supply any plea offers to Sam Bankman-Fried

On the primary day of Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial, in a darkish mahogany-walled court docket room on the Southern District of New York, federal district Choose Lewis Kaplan requested the U.S. authorities if it had ever provided any plea provides to the defendant.

The federal government’s attorneys confirmed they didn’t.

It was a gradual begin to the six-week-long trial. The jury choice course of started Tuesday, and the room was quiet and sober, apart from conversations involving the decide, each events and the possible jurors.

Bankman-Fried shed his common cargo pants and T-shirt for a go well with and tie; his often messy curls appear to have been trimmed a bit, too. He didn’t discuss a lot, solely talking out as soon as to say “sure” when Kaplan requested if he understood he had the precise to testify if he wished to.

Kaplan mentioned the trial might seemingly take lower than six weeks. “It hardly ever takes that lengthy,” however there’s no assure, he added. “There’s an excellent probability” the trial shall be over by Thanksgiving, although.

The seven fees being offered in opposition to Bankman-Fried are severe, however Choose Kaplan presided with a extra playful, pleasant and constructive air. He reminded the possible jurors that they shouldn’t analysis or use any digital units to lookup information.

Some potential jurors claimed they heard concerning the extremely publicized case on the information, podcasts and different media; one claimed her employer, enterprise capital and personal fairness agency Perception Companions, invested in FTX and its sister firm Alameda, illustrating how intently tied this trial may very well be.

Kaplan anticipates that the 12 jurors and 6 alternates shall be chosen by finish of the day, if not early Wednesday morning previous to the opening statements from each events.