Federal Choose Ronnie Abrams, who was assigned to supervise the high-profile legal trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), recused herself from the case on Dec. 23. In a court docket order, the federal decide for the US District Court docket for the Southern District of New York cited potential battle of curiosity as the explanation for stepping down.
Within the order, the decide stated that the legislation agency of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, through which her husband is a associate, supplied authorized recommendation to the now-defunct crypto change FTX in 2021. The decide added that Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP had represented events “that could be antagonistic to FTX and Defendant Bankman-Fried in different proceedings (or potential proceedings).”
The court docket order famous that Abrams’ husband, Greg D. Andres, “had no involvement” in any of the representations of FTX and associated events. Whereas the small print of the dealings between FTX and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP are confidential and consequently unknown to Abrams, however, she recused herself “to keep away from any potential battle or the looks of 1.”
It’s unknown when a brand new decide from the Southern District of New York might be chosen for the SBF trial. Normally, judges are randomly assigned circumstances and solely excluded when there’s a potential battle of curiosity.
Some have raised questions on why Abrams waited so lengthy to recuse herself. In accordance with a report by The New York Instances, Abrams was appointed to the case even earlier than SBF was extradited to the US on Dec. 21.
Nonetheless, it’s to be famous that judges normally focus on the battle of curiosity issues with the district’s chief decide and an ethics committee and search for precedents earlier than making such selections.
Abrams’ recusal comes a day after one other decide, Gabriel Gorenstein, accredited SBF’s launch in opposition to a $250 million bail bond. The humongous bail quantity, nonetheless, has created controversy since SBF didn’t pay a penny.
As an alternative, the bail was secured by SBF’s mother and father, who put up their household residence, reportedly price $4 million, as collateral. The bail quantity is simply owed to the court docket if SBF fails to attend his court docket hearings.
Furthermore, some query the leniency of approving bail and whether or not it was justified given the size of alleged fraud expenses in opposition to SBF. Some have additionally derided that SBF had did not safe bail within the Bahamas however that the US authorized system was extra lenient.