The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) sanctions against Tornado Cash, a privacy tool, will not be discussed during the upcoming trial of developer Roman Storm. This decision was made by District Judge Katherine Polk Failla, who referred to the sanctions as confusing and unnecessarily complex for the jury.
During a status conference in Manhattan, Judge Failla hesitated on whether to permit expert witnesses to discuss the sanctions that were imposed in August 2022, later rescinded in March, and ultimately declared illegal by a Texas court. After hearing arguments from both sides, she decided to grant Storm’s motion to exclude all references to these sanctions, arguing that understanding their context would require “mental gymnastics” from the jury.
However, Failla noted the possibility of a “unicorn document,” a key piece of evidence that might necessitate revisiting the sanctions discussion. The prosecution was instructed to submit any such evidence by a specified deadline.
Additionally, Storm’s other motions to limit evidence were mostly denied, including requests to bar mentions of North Korea’s state-sponsored hacking group and any negative characterizations of his activities with Tornado Cash. The prosecution intends to show evidence of Storm’s profitable activities related to Tornado Cash, suggesting substantial financial gain linked to his developments.
Furthermore, the judge allowed evidence from the phone of fellow Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev to be included, despite defense claims that it was cherry-picked and unverifiable. Lastly, while it remains unclear if Storm will take the stand, Judge Failla indicated that he would not be allowed to argue for First Amendment protections in relation to his work with Tornado Cash.
A final pre-trial conference is scheduled, with Storm’s trial anticipated to begin on June 14 and last approximately four weeks.
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