Pushkin. This is judging Sam the trial of Sam Bankman Freed. I'm Jacob Goldstein sitting in for Michael Lewis, and the trial of Sam Bankman Freed is over. It's just before nine pm on November two, and Sam Bankman Freed has been found guilty on all counts. Lydia Jean, you were in the courtroom. Tell us what happened.
So, you know, we were all in the courtroom for hours waiting for the verdict, and honestly, we weren't expecting a verdict at that point because they hadn't been deliberating very long.
I mean it could take days, right, It's not unusual for truest right for days.
Yeah. It was more chaotic in the courtroom than it ever had been before. It kind of felt like there were no rules. And there was a point in the evening where I was in the front row and then Sam Bankman Freed actually came in with his lawyers and when he walked into the courtroom, he was really he was looking around at all their reporters, and since I was in the front row, we actually even made eye
contact for a few seconds. It felt and honestly, it felt like too much and at that point A Marshall came up to me and told me I had to move out of the first row, which felt like a bit of a relief. It was almost too intense to be so close.
And what did he seem like just the.
Entire day today? He just seemed really interested to be looking at everyone who was in the courtroom. I noticed also he was looking at the jurors pretty intently as well. I don't know, it just kind of seemed like he just wanted to see us.
Uh huh, So okay, so you're there. It's kind of weird you're kind of hanging out with SBF in this very fraud moment. What happens next?
Well, then at seven point forty it was announced that there was a verdict, and shortly after Sam bankman Fried's parents came back into the courtroom. It kind of looked like Sam's dad was kind of holding up Sam's mom a little bit, and we were all instructed to not make any noise or react in any way when the verdict was read out loud, and then the jury came in and I noticed that the jury wasn't looking at the judge and the jury wasn't looking at Sam Kminfred either.
They were kind of just looking straight ahead to their seats. Okay, the four person was during number four. She was wearing a blue shirt and she passed the verdict to the deputy.
It's just a piece of paper, basically.
It was just a piece of paper. The counts were read by the deputy. They went through each count and for each count she said he was guilty, so it was seven guilties. And at that point I noticed that Sam's dad's head was totally down. He was kind of like holding his head in his hands, and it looked like Sam's mom was kind of breasting her hand on
his back. And you know, Sam was standing when they were read going through all the charges, and there was like an awkward moment where it was like he wasn't sure whether they were done, whether he could sit down, or whether he should keep standing. And then he sat down.
Did he show any emotion or any response.
I could only see the back of his head, but I was looking really closely, and it seemed like he was still doing that thing where he's like just shittering
a tiny, tiny bit. And you know, at the end, you know, after all the proceedings were done, there's kind of like a low separation between, you know, the where the people who are involved in the court proceedings are and the audience, like a little barrier and say Makemonfried's parents came up to the barrier like they often do to kind of try and say hi to him, and I noticed that he was talking to his lawyers and he wasn't turning around, which to me kind of made
sense because there was a whole gaggle all of us were just waiting for him to turn around to see his face. He wouldn't do it. And Sam's parents also were right at the barrier waiting for him to turn around, and they were kind of like holding each other up
a little bit. And then he was escorted out of the courtroom by his lawyers, and right when he was at the door, he turned around really quickly just to look at his mom, and at that moment, she kind of fell forward a little bit, and then she picked herself.
Up and Sam went out the door.
And Sam went out the door.
We'll be back in just a minute. So what happens next?
So Sam Bakmanfried actually has a second trial that's now scheduled for March eleventh, because as you may remember, there are a few other charges that weren't part of this trial. So that trial got scheduled today and it's supposed to be in March eleventh, though it could still knock go forward, right the judge said to let him know that February first, if the prosecution wants to proceed with that trial, And.
What about sentencing for these charges on which he was convicted Today.
They set a date for the sentencing, which is March twenty eighth at nine thirty, but that could also, of course change.
March twenty eighth, so months and months.
Away, months and months away.
Why why such a long gap between when he's convicted and when he's sentenced.
There's usually a long gap between conviction and sentencing. It's a complicated process, the way that the judge gets a recommended sentence based on a lot of complicated math and legal analysis.
And Lida Gien, you've been to every day of the trial. You were there a few feet away from Sam just now essentially when he was convicted. What do you make of things right now? Like, what are you taking away from this?
You know, it was interesting, I would say, every day and moment of the trial was full of chatter. You know, it's all journalists. We're people who love to talk, and it's kind of been NonStop conversation. After the verdict, we were all in the elevator and it was so quiet. You know, we're on the twenty sixth floor. It's kind of a long ride, and no one really said much of anything.
Yeah, it suddenly feels more grave. Right on a certain level, it was easy to be glib about the case. The victims were sort of hazy, and Sam was like an interesting figure, a sort of celebrity adjacent. But then suddenly, like the guilty verdict kind of snaps things into a different kind of focus. Yeah.
I talked to a reporter earlier who said, you know, the moment when the verdict comes, that's when it becomes real. He said that that's when it becomes real to the defendant, and you know, maybe that's true, but it definitely felt like in that moment that's also when it kind of became real to us. It makes the whole story just feel you know, there's real consequences and there's so many people who've been hurt in so many different ways in this story.
Okay, Lydia Jean, it was great to talk with you. Thanks very much.
It was great to talk to you too.
As always, Jacob, We'll be back in your feed next week with more expert analysis from Sam bankman Fried's trial. Thanks for listening. This episode of Judging Sam was hosted by Jacob Goldstein, Lydia Jean Caught as our court reporter. Catherine Gerardau and Nisha Venken produced this show. Sophie Crane is our editor. Our music was composed by Matthias Bossi and John Evans of stell Wagon's Symphonette. Judging Sam is
a production of Pushkin Industries. Got a question or comment for me, There's a website for that atr podcast dot com. That's atr podcast dot com. To find more Pushkin podcasts, listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you'd like to access bonus episodes and listen ad free, don't forget to sign up for a Pushkin Plus subscription at pushkin dot fm, slash Plus, or on our Apple show page.