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Sam Bankman-Fried- Case Archive
personpersonLewis A. KaplanLewis A. KaplanUnited States district judge for the Southern District of New York who presided over Samuel Bankman-Fried's 2023 criminal trial.← All People
JudgeUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York

Lewis A. Kaplan

United States district judge for the Southern District of New York who presided over Samuel Bankman-Fried's 2023 criminal trial.

AppearedFederal Criminal Trial
3,407 lines·139 proceedings

About

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan presided from jury impanelment through the verdict. He instructed jurors on the presumption of innocence, the government's burden, witness credibility, and conduct during trial. He managed witness questioning and occasionally asked for clarification of technical evidence, including Gary Wang's testimony about an Alameda investment and a promissory note.

Kaplan's evidentiary rulings set limits on the case the jury would hear. He instructed jurors that China-related testimony could bear on trust and motive but did not establish an uncharged bribery offense. He overruled objections to Twitter-message exhibits. Before Bankman-Fried's jury testimony, Kaplan heard admissibility arguments and allowed limited evidence that FTX counsel helped prepare a data-retention policy, while excluding four other lawyer-drafted-document subjects. He denied the defense's acquittal motions after the government and defense rested.

At the charge conference, Kaplan resolved disputes over the final instructions and ruled that the government's misappropriation theory required proof of a false statement. On Day 19, he instructed the jury on all seven counts, the burden of proof, and unanimous deliberations, then corrected language on reasonable doubt, concealment money laundering, conscious avoidance, and securities fraud. The jury found Bankman-Fried guilty on all seven counts, confirmed both submitted money-laundering theories, and unanimously affirmed the verdict when polled. Kaplan directed that the verdict be filed and recorded.

Trial Record (139)

FederalFederal Criminal TrialOct 3, 2023 – Nov 2, 2023

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan presided from jury impanelment through the verdict, managing evidence, the defense case, and final instructions on seven charges. On Day 19, the jury found Samuel Bankman-Fried guilty on all seven counts, and Kaplan directed the unanimous verdict to be filed and recorded.

Day 1

Day 2

Jury InstructionJury Impanelment and Preliminary Instructions1highlight5lines spoken

Summary

The court swore the jury and instructed it on evidence, credibility, the presumption of innocence, the government's burden, the seven charges, juror conduct, and the trial's expected sequence.

Highlights (1)

Quote“The burden of proof is always on the government. The defendant has no burden to prove innocence, no burden to produce any evidence, no burden to testify or obligation to testify.”— Lewis A. KaplanThe instruction places the entire burden on the government and identifies the defendant's lack of any obligation to testify or present evidence.Open in transcript →
ProceduralMedication Access Request8lines spoken

Summary

Defense counsel raised missed Adderall doses and their asserted effect on Mr. Bankman-Fried's focus; the court directed counsel to contact the Bureau of Prisons and confirmed an existing early-production order.

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Jury InstructionLimiting Instruction on China Evidence1highlight12lines spoken

Summary

The court barred a question seeking Caroline Ellison's conclusion about a payment recipient and instructed the jury to consider the China-related evidence only for trust and motive, not as proof of a charged bribery crime.

Highlights (1)

Quote“The defendant is not charged in this case with any crime relating to what I'll loosely refer to as a possible bribe to somebody in China.”— Lewis A. KaplanThe court expressly separated the China-related evidence from the crimes charged in the case.Open in transcript →

Day 7

Day 8

ProceduralRobing Room Medication Discussion13lines spoken

Summary

Defense counsel raised concerns that Bankman-Fried lacked effective Adderall coverage during trial hours. The prosecution relayed a planned extended-release BOP arrangement, and the court required a Monday status report.

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 14

CrossMarc Troiano — CrossMarc TroianoChristian R. Everdell31lines spoken

Summary

Defense counsel tested the prosecution's role in preparing the Signal summary chart and Troiano's limited knowledge. After striking a misleading question and answer, the court restricted repetitive or out-of-scope questioning, while Troiano confirmed three entries attributed to SBF turning off auto-delete and a one-week setting for the “KYC/legal discuss” group.

DirectJoseph Pimbley — DirectJoseph PimbleyChristian R. Everdell11lines spoken

Summary

Defense consultant Joseph Pimbley presented FTX database charts showing a sharp mid-June 2022 decline in Alameda's recorded credit use and November balances of about $5.8 billion in four selected currencies and $8.9 billion across all currencies, excluding Alameda and FTX entities. In the four-currency chart, 78 percent fell in the category combining spot-margin, spot-margin-lending, or futures-activity accounts. His work was limited to extracting and validating these figures.

ProceduralAdvice-of-Counsel Evidentiary Hearing20lines spoken

Summary

The defense sought to present lawyer-consultation and industry-practice evidence without asserting a formal advice-of-counsel defense; the government challenged its relevance, and the court reserved its rulings while flagging a possible instruction about a denied subpoena.

Day 15

ProceduralAdvice-of-Counsel Ruling and Morning Matters2highlights13lines spoken

Summary

The court allowed limited evidence that FTX counsel helped prepare a data-retention policy, excluded four other lawyer-drafted-document items, and refused to categorically bar use of Bankman-Fried's prior hearing testimony.

Highlights (2)

Quote“I will not prohibit use of anything that the defendant said yesterday on the grounds articulated by Mr. Cohen.”— Lewis A. KaplanThe court rejected the defense request to categorically bar use of the prior hearing testimony.Open in transcript →
Quote“That evidence would, in my judgment, be confusing and highly prejudicial by falsely implying, given the testimony yesterday, that the lawyers, with full knowledge of the facts, all of the facts, blessed what the defendant is alleged to have done.”— Lewis A. KaplanThe court explained why it excluded evidence concerning four lawyer-drafted-document items from the proposed attorney-involvement defense.Open in transcript →

Day 16

sidebarHearsay Objection to Defendant's Statement9lines spoken

Summary

Counsel disputed whether Bankman-Fried's proposed statement to Nishad Singh that neither of them had done anything wrong was admissible under the state-of-mind exception. The court sustained the government's hearsay objection at sidebar and repeated the ruling in open court.

Day 17

Charge ConferenceCharge Conference1highlight269lines spoken

Summary

The court resolved extensive disputes over the final jury charge and, after reconvening, ruled that the misappropriation theory would require proof of a false statement.

Highlights (1)

Quote“But the charge is I think making clear that the government has to prove a false statement in order to prove misappropriation.”— Lewis A. KaplanThe court stated the final instructional consequence of the supplemental dispute over the government's earlier position.Open in transcript →

Day 18

Day 19

Jury InstructionFinal Jury Instructions1highlight34lines spoken

Summary

The court delivered the final charge on all seven counts, the government's burdens, evidence and credibility, the verdict form, and unanimous deliberations.

Highlights (1)

Quote“The burden is on the prosecution to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. That burden never shifts to the defendant.”— Lewis A. KaplanStates the governing burden and confirms that the defendant bears no obligation to prove innocence.Open in transcript →
sidebarCorrections to the Final Jury Charge21lines spoken

Summary

Prosecutors and defense counsel flagged a typo in the written charge and passages the judge had misread or skipped, including reasonable-doubt language, and the defense raised its earlier charge objections for the record.

Jury InstructionJury Instruction Corrections2highlights8lines spoken

Summary

The court corrected the final charge on reasonable doubt, concealment money laundering, conscious avoidance, and securities-fraud wording before directing the jury to deliberate.

Highlights (2)

Quote“it is the government's burden to prove each of the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt”— Lewis A. KaplanThe court emphasized that the reasonable-doubt requirement applied to every essential element despite any omission in the written or oral charge.Open in transcript →
Quote“However, if you find that the defendant actually believed that the fact was not true, then you may not find that he knew that fact.”— Lewis A. KaplanThis corrected the omitted limitation in the conscious-avoidance instruction and distinguished deliberate disregard from an actual contrary belief.Open in transcript →
VerdictVerdict Proceedings10lines spoken

Summary

The jury found Samuel Bankman-Fried guilty on all seven counts, confirmed both submitted money-laundering theories, and unanimously affirmed the verdict when polled.