In a Nov. 21 mandate<\/a>, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said Bankman-Fried\u2019s previous attempts to tamper with two witnesses while on pretrial release was a major reason behind rejecting his request.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have reviewed the Defendant-Appellant\u2019s additional arguments and find them unpersuasive,\u201d the court said.<\/p>\n Government prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried of leaking Caroline Ellison\u2019s diaries to The New York Times in July, which caused his bail to be revoked by a New York District Court.<\/p>\n Bankman-Fried argued the New York court failed to consider that he was engaged in activity considered freedom of speech protected under the First Amendment. <\/p>\n The appellate court, however, said the New York District Court ruled correctly and that witness tampering \u201cfalls outside the zone of constitutional protection.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2nd Circuit has \u2014 rather belatedly \u2014 denied Sam Bankman-Fried’s appeal of his pretrial detention.<\/p>\n “The record supports the district court\u2019s conclusion that there was probable cause to believe \u2014 Molly White (@molly0xFFF) November 21, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n![](\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2023-11\/e679579d-2009-4b34-9e76-f0ed905a6a2d.png\")
\n
that the Defendant-Appellant attempted to tamper with two witnesses”.<\/p>\n