When Sam Bankman-Fried prepared to testify in his own criminal trial , things didn't go according to plan. Bankman-Fried wanted to tell jurors his side of the story. Part of that story, in his view, was that he received advice from company lawyers that made him think everything he did was OK. US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw Bankman-Fried's 2023 criminal trial, wasn't so sure. The judge had Bankman-Fried testify in court without a jury and allowed prosecutors to cross-examine him.