DOJ Seeks to Bar SBF's Expert Witnesses in Upcoming FTX Trial

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has submitted a legal filing to prevent all of Sam Bankman-Fried’s proposed expert witnesses from testifying in his forthcoming trial scheduled for October. According to the documents filed by the DOJ, the defense’s proposed experts have multiple shortcomings that justify their exclusion from the trial.

Per Decrypt’s article, the DOJ argues that the seven expert witnesses do not meet the minimum requirements for criminal proceedings. Furthermore, the government contends that their testimonies could introduce bias and confusion among the jury members. The filing states, “The Court should exercise its gatekeeping authority and preclude such impermissible expert testimony.”

The proposed expert witnesses include a British lawyer, the leaders of four different consulting firms, a law professor, and a business school assistant professor. These experts were expected to testify on various topics, including FTX and Alameda Research’s terms of service, accounting practices, software infrastructure, campaign finance laws, and the fundamental applications of blockchain technology.

Joseph Pimbley, a principal at Maxwell Consulting, is specifically mentioned in the DOJ’s filing as being unnecessary for the trial. The government argues that his expertise on FTX’s code would merely duplicate the testimony already provided by their own witnesses. The DOJ plans to call upon Nishad Singh, the former CTO, and Gary Wang, the director of engineering, both of whom are deemed competent to testify on the relevant matters.

Additionally, the DOJ has requested a Daubert hearing if any of the proposed witnesses are not excluded. A Daubert hearing allows both parties in a court case to scrutinize the challenged expert in an open court setting to assess their admissibility.

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