Prosecutors in the case against Tornado Cash Developer’s Roman Storm are trying to avoid the possibility that a New York judge would force him to hand over additional evidence that could help Storm’s case.
In a letter to the court on Wednesday, prosecutors opposed Storm’s lawyer’s claim that they were unable to fulfill their so-called Brady duties. The constitutional requirement that the prosecutor inherits potentially useful evidence to the defense before trial.
At the heart of the debate is the production of recent evidence in another case of the Southern District of New York (SDNY): the legitimate pursuit of Samourai Wallet co-founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Ronergan Hill. In both cases, it includes a mixed crypto service that prosecutors claim to be intentionally used to wash off criminal proceeds.
However, in the case of Samourai’s wallet, the prosecutor recently admitted to having conversations with officials from the two Financial Crime Enforcement Networks (FINCEN) in 2023 – before filing the charges, government officials believe that mixed services are not entitled to send money under guidelines and do not require a license to operate. Lawyers for Rodriguez and Hill accused the prosecutors of suppressing important evidence and violating legitimate process rights. Last week, a judge overseeing the case refused to file a hearing claim on the matter, and instead told him to include concerns in his pre-hearing motion at the end of the month.
Although the cases are separate, Rome Storm’s lawyers have expressed concern that the prosecutor’s failure to inform Finsen about his communications with Finsen regarding the status of Samourai Wallet as a money transfer business could also constitute a Brady violation in the case of Storm.
In response Wednesday, prosecutors said Finsen’s conversation was not evidence. Prosecutors also argued that the argument with Finsen was unrelated to the Storm case. Because it wasn’t about tornado cash.
“Tornado Cash was not simply part of the conversation,” the prosecutor wrote. “The Samourai wallet and Tornado Cash Service may share some superficial similarities, but they ran very differently.”
Prosecutors said they had not had similar conversations with Finsen about tornado cash, claiming “there is no interaction comparable to what is mentioned in Rodriguez’s disclosure.”
“As the government has repeatedly explained about defense in this case, the government has not seeking or obtaining opinions from Fincen employees or other government agencies on whether tornado cash services are subject to registration obligations,” the prosecutor wrote. “Such opinions, particularly informal opinions provided by employees who expressly disagree with speaking for the benefit of the agency, are not legally recognized and do not constitute Brady’s material.”
The lawsuit against the storm is expected to begin in New York on July 14th.
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