Kaplan, a senior judge in Manhattan federal court, has also frequently scolded the 31-year-old former billionaire's defense lawyers for asking repetitive questions, once accusing them outside the jury's presence of trying to "set a record for the longest trial."
Last year, he presided over a civil trial in which the actor Kevin Spacey defeated a sexual abuse claim.While known for his no-nonsense demeanor in the courtroom, Kaplan — a Harvard Law School graduate born in the New York City borough of Staten Island — has nonetheless peppered Bankman-Fried's trial proceedings with witty comebacks and the occasional self-deprecating quip.
Once testimony was underway, after prosecutors showed jurors an FTX television advertisement in which the star football quarterback Tom Brady called FTX the "safest and easiest way to buy and sell crypto," Kaplan deadpanned: "Just to make sure we're all complete, who is Tom Brady?" The jury will ultimately decide the question of Bankman-Fried's guilt or innocence, but Kaplan has final say over the types of arguments and lines of questioning the lawyers may pursue.
"You've been over this already six ways to Sunday, and you got your answer," Kaplan said, outside the jury's earshot. "The goal here is not to set a record for the longest trial."
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