Tornado Cash Developer Roman Storm’s Trial Pushed to April

The four-month postponement offers the involved parties ample time to resolve a dispute regarding the disclosure of expert witnesses that emerged last month. Judge Katherine Polk Failla from the Southern District of New York (SDNY) had previously mandated the exchange of information concerning the potential expert witnesses each side might present during the impending trial.

In response to Judge Failla’s order, Storm’s legal team – headed by Brian Klein at Waymaker LLP – filed a document in court on October 14th, stating that revealing the requested information could expose their strategy and significantly disadvantage Mr. Storm.

Apart from possibly weakening Storm’s defense, Klein’s letter to the court implied that Judge Failla’s decision might not have followed one of the federal rules regulating criminal trials. In essence, Klein contended that it is illegal for the government to force the defense to reveal the identities of their expert witnesses unless the defense itself has previously sought such information from the prosecution. However, Storm’s defense chose not to make this kind of request, according to Klein’s letter, in order to maintain confidentiality about their list of witnesses.

Storm’s legal team has submitted a petition to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, asking for a higher court to issue an order that compels a lower court (in this case, Judge Failla) to either follow the law or stop engaging in unlawful actions. A hearing on this petition is scheduled for November 12th.

Storm’s trial is now set to begin April 14, and is expected to run for two weeks.

Storm has been charged with three charges connected to his work with crypto mixing service Tornado Cash: conspiracy to facilitate money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter, and violating sanctions. He faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted on all counts.