A cleaned-up SBF faces potential jurors

On Tuesday, Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial kicked off in Manhattan federal court.

The cofounder and former CEO of FTX attended jury selection with his trademark curly hair cut in a close-cropped style. He also wore a dark suit, white shirt, and tie. After his bail was revoked this summer Bankman-Fried is being jailed in Brooklyn. He arrived at the courthouse late—“I’m told we can thank the delay to what’s happening in the other courtroom nearby,” Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said in court, evidently referring to Donald Trump’s civil trial being held a block away.

Almost immediately upon entering the courtroom and taking a seat between his two lead lawyers, Bankman-Fried began typing and scrolling on an internet-disabled laptop, occasionally speaking with his lawyers or scratching his head, but mostly focusing on the computer. His screen wasn’t visible from where I was seated, but he appeared to be taking notes.

He stood, as is customary, when the first group of potential jurors entered the room, and began to sit before he seemed to realize everyone else was still standing and corrected himself.

Prosecutor Nicolas Roos said on Tuesday that “the government never made any plea offers” in the case, a clear explanation for why Bankman-Fried is going to trial instead of pleading out, a risky move for a defendant. About 9 in 10 federal criminal defendants plead guilty, according to Pew Research Center analysis of federal statistics, while only 0.4% are acquitted at trial. 

Bankman-Fried is charged with seven counts of fraud and conspiracy related to FTX, his cryptocurrency exchange, and Alameda Research, his crypto hedge fund. Several former FTX and Alameda executives are expected to testify against him. He has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is expected to last six weeks.

For much of the day, the presiding judge was giving a master class on how not to let anyone out of jury duty. If jurors said they were unable to assess the case impartially, they were dismissed without much questioning. Anyone else? They’d best get ready for some contentious lawyering—giving a preview of how Kaplan will run the high-profile trial.

Kaplan, who’d been a longtime New York City lawyer before becoming a federal judge, seemed to relish getting to question people once again.

The woman who had an upcoming wedding? “How close is the relationship?” Kaplan asked. The woman answered, and Kaplan repeated, wryly, “Your husband’s coworker.”

The adjunct lecturer who said she taught from 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.? “That’s a long lecture.”

The man employed at a personal-injury law firm who wasn’t sure if the firm would pay him during jury duty? Pass on the phone number of the firm and Kaplan’s office would investigate. “You’re still in play,” he said.

On Tuesday, amid the awkward burps of oversharing that emerge from a New York jury pool—this one takes blood thinners, that one has an MRI scheduled soon, that woman’s husband was accused of racketeering—no one expressed strong opinions about Bankman-Fried himself. Certainly not along the lines of the now-famous “He disrespected the Wu-Tang Clan, so,” that one potential juror uttered at Martin Shkreli’s fraud trial.

The potential jurors’ responses also gave a sense of how familiar they were with cryptocurrency—and of the handful who’d dealt with it directly, most weren’t fans. Three had lost money because of it.

“My fiancé has invested some of our money in crypto,” one potential juror said.

“Win or lose?” Kaplan asked.

“Lose,” she said.

“I had an investment in cryptocurrency and I did lose a lot, and my twin brother lost a lot more than me, and it almost ruined him,” one man said.

When another potential juror said “I don’t actually still understand how cryptocurrency works,” Kaplan responded: “You probably have a lot of company in this courtroom.”

The judge said he expected to complete jury selection Wednesday morning, with opening arguments to follow.