SBF’s Lawyers Says His Criminal Case Was Almost Unwinnable

Stanford Law School professor David Mills who led Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal team came out to say that the criminal lawsuit was almost impossible to win owing to the defendant’s actions.

He also described Bankman-Fried “as the worst person I’ve ever seen do a cross-examination,” pointing to the fact that SBF unsuccessfully tried to deny the accusations levied against him. 

Rather, he made his arguments in such a way that he was eventually found guilty of all seven charges levied against him.

Sam Bankman-Fried Resisted Lawyers Recommendations 

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, Mills recounted how the former FTX CEO showed some reluctance in accepting some of his recommendations. He also pointed out that most of SBF’s colleagues who took the witness stand in the trial presented mind-boggling testimonies. These testimonies ended up pulling the 31-year-old man deep into the charges levied against him.

“I thought it was almost impossible to win a case when three or four founders are all saying you did it,” the professor noted. “Even if they’re all lying through their teeth, it’s really, really hard to win a case like that.”

Lawyers Advised SBF to Plead Guilty

One of Mills recommendations that met with opposition when presented was that Mills advised Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal team to admit to the allegations of witnesses and the state prosecution. The Stanford professor believes that this would give the court the perception that Bankman-Fried is concerned about the cryptocurrency exchange and wishes to save it from bankruptcy. 

“I thought there was a really good story there. But he can’t tell the story that all these people are lying. You got five people who say one thing, one person says another thing. Well, you’ve got no shot, zero,” Mills added.

SBF Lawyer is Friendly With His Parents

Mills explained that he decided to provide his expertise in Bankman-Fried’s trial on the basis of his relationship with the defendant’s parents Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried. Noteworthy, Bankman-Fried’s parents are also professors at the prestigious Stanford Law School that was almost implicated in SBF’s lawsuit owing to the donation they received from Sam Bankman-Fried.

Meanwhile, SBF’s sentence hearing is scheduled to be held next year and it is not yet certain if the five other charges will be brought forward when the time comes.