Judge grants Tornado Cash dev Roman Storm's request to delay trial over prosecutors' objections

Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm's request to delay his upcoming trial was granted by the judge in the case, Judge Katherine Polk Failla, over the objections of the prosecution in a recent court hearing in lower Manhattan. 

Storm's defense attorneys had requested the trial delay due to the complexity of the case and the voluminous nature of the discovery, according to a court filing. "Additional time is needed because this case involves complex and novel legal and factual issues," Storm's lawyers wrote , adding, "The government has also produced voluminous discovery in this case on a rolling basis (millions of pages of documents, many of which are in Russian and require translation), which the defense is still analyzing and conferring with Mr. Storm about." 

In a sharply written rebuttal, Department of Justice prosecutors argued that the defense has had enough time to review the documents in question. "While the total discovery is voluminous, it is far less than the discovery at issue in other recent cases that have been scheduled for trial even more quickly," the prosecutors wrote, adding, "The defendant’s motion does not identify any particular issues in the discovery that have hampered his efforts to prepare for trial by September 23, 2024, a trial date which has been on the calendar for seven months (emphasis in original)." 

Judge Failla sided with the defense, delaying the trial, originally scheduled for September 23, to December 2. However, the judge also has her own reasons for delaying the trial, according to a courtroom report from The Rage , which reveals the judge "...framed her decision as necessary to give herself enough time to consider the legal issues raised by the defense’s motions."

The report also praises Judge Failla's understanding of the complex legal issues involved in the case which has been widely watched by the crypto industry. Judge Failla seems interested in whether or not indicting the co-founders of Tornado Cash is appropriate given the actions of bad actors on their platform, reportedly asking, "“If [Tornado Cash] has 1,000 customers and 1 is a bad actor, are they criminally liable?”

The judge has yet to rule on Storm's motion to dismiss the charges along with other oral arguments related to the discovery process of the case. Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev, meanwhile, will remain in jail in the Netherlands for the duration of his appeal after his bail was denied by a Dutch court, The Block previously reported.