The lawyer responsible for Sam Bankman-Fried\u2019s criminal trial defense has admitted that the case was \u201calmost impossible\u201d to win from the outset.<\/p>\n
In a one-on-one interview with Bloomberg, Stanford Law School professor David Mills recounts how Bankman-Fried\u2019s reluctance to follow his recommendations and the damning testimony of his former associates\u00a0had the FTX founder\u2019s back against the ropes.<\/p>\n
Related:\u00a0Caroline Ellison wanted to step down but feared a bank run on FTX<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI thought it was almost impossible to win a case when three or four founders are all saying you did it,\u201d Mills told the publication.<\/p>\n The report also outlines how Mills recommended that SBF\u2019s legal defense should have admitted to the allegations of witnesses and the state prosecution and tried to convince the presiding jury that Bankman-Fried intended to save the company from bankruptcy. <\/p>\n \u201cI thought there was a really good story there. But he can\u2019t tell the story that all these people are lying. You got five people who say one thing, one person says another thing. Well, you\u2019ve got no shot, zero,\u201d Mills said.<\/p>\n Related: Sam Bankman-Fried\u2019s perspective on FTX fall<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The experienced criminal lawyer, businessman and academic also described Bankman-Fried \u201cas the worst person I\u2019ve ever seen do a cross-examination,\u201d as the former FTX CEO unsuccessfully tried to refute making several damning statements that eventually saw him found guilty of all seven charges.<\/p>\n Mills also revealed that he had agreed to lend his expertise to Bankman-Fried\u2019s defense at the behest of the FTX CEO\u2019s parents. Mills is understood to be close friends with Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried and took on the case free of charge, adding that his friendship and love for criminal law were driving factors behind his involvement. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, the outcome of the case and the to-be-determined length of Bankman-Fried\u2019s imprisonment may have been too close to home, as Mills admitted that he would not take on cases involving close relationships:<\/p>\n Bankman-Fried was found guilty of two counts of wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, one count of securities fraud, one count of commodities fraud conspiracy and one count of money laundering conspiracy.<\/p>\n The 31-year-old is set to be sentenced on March 28, 2024, by New York Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the high-profile case. Kaplan will have the final say over the duration of Bankman-Fried\u2019s sentence, while government prosecutors will put forward recommendations.<\/p>\n