Prosecutors have overstated the extent to which FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried actually has access to legal documents, his lawyer said in a memo late Friday.
Bankman-Fried also lacked proper internet access when he was taken to the solitary block of the Southern District of New York City, and no air-gapped computer access as the Department of Justice claims. letter He said it was signed by defense attorney Mark Cohen.
Lawyers for Bankman-Fried are calling for his temporary release or greater access to computers for his defense, alleging that his Sixth Amendment rights have been violated. . Prosecutors have argued that he had access to defense materials even after his bail was revoked last month for public safety reasons.
Earlier this week, the Justice Department said that Bankman-Fried now has multiple hard drives containing defense materials provided by the defense, a laptop that is air-gapped daily, and new batteries provided by the defense. I submitted a letter stating that I had access to an internet-enabled laptop. Counsel.
In Friday’s letter, which detailed those issues, Bankman-Fried appeared in court on Wednesday and after being granted access to an internet-enabled computer, said he had slow internet speeds and sent the documents to court. He said he was only able to load one page.
“In effect, Bankman-Fried was without internet access for five hours,” the letter said. “…Despite government efforts, there appears to be no way to solve the Internet access problem in the cell. That is to say,” such restrictions prevent the defendant from preparing for trial. “
Bankman-Fried doesn’t have enough time to use the air-gapped computer promised by prosecutors, Cohen said.
“It has been almost a full month since Mr. Bankman-Fried was remanded and he has lost time to effectively prepare for his trial,” the letter said. “Therefore, we respectfully reiterate our request to the Court to order the temporary release of Mr. Bankman-Fried.”
