SBF trial kicks off day two with opening arguments: Live updates
Opening arguments in the Sam Bankman-Fried trial are set to begin Wednesday after the court wraps up jury selection.
The judge overseeing the case, Judge Lewis Kaplan, is hopeful that the remaining jury selection will happen fairly quickly this morning, though he was also optimistic that the court could have a “dash” of luck and a “strong wind at our back” to finalize jury selection before the court adjourned on Tuesday.
The prosecution — the US government — said Tuesday that its statements will last roughly 20 to 25 minutes, while SBF’s lawyers expect theirs to last roughly 30 to 45 minutes. Not only will the court in session listen to a group of lawyers talk for roughly an hour, but there’s also a promise of slides for each of their presentations. Yay.
Before the judge excused the potential jurors yesterday, he asked that they go on an electronic quarantine due to the highly public nature of the case. Even as he excused the pool of potential jurors for lunch, he asked them to not “learn anything about the case. Try real hard.”
Stay in the loop. Catch up on highlights from the first day of the trial.
Judge Kaplan’s tone is dry, which led to some somewhat sassy exchanges throughout day one, though it’s also important to note that he conducts his court with clear authority.
Both during day one and in past hearings, the judge was fairly open in his reactions, which led to some interactions with jurors attempting to be excused from the case.
For example, on Tuesday, one woman explained that her husband’s co-worker is getting married in Colombia, and when pressed on whether or not the tickets were refundable, she said that she’d need the internet to verify.
Don’t miss a beat. Keep up with all SBF news coming from the courtroom.
“Well, you’re not going to have the internet for a while,” Kaplan said in response.
In another case, a potential juror expressed concern about representing a client on an audit, to which Kaplan noted that it had been a “long time” since he studied tax law.
“Well, I don’t mean to be snippy or anything, but the number of cases on my docket that have been extended more than once is huge, as I’m sure you would imagine, and I suspect that may be true for the Internal Revenue Service,” he added.
This is a developing story.
Blockworks reporters Casey Wagner and James Cirrone are covering Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial from the courtroom in New York. Follow for instant trial updates on their X accounts.
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