Samourai Wallet’s lawyers have accused the prosecution of suppressing key evidence in the case against the mixed service co-founder, and are seeking a hearing to determine whether the case should be thrown out on suspicion of Brady violations.
In a court filing Monday, lawyers for Samourai Wallet told Judge Richard Berman of the Southern District of New York (SDNY) that prosecutors charged Keonne Rodriguez and William Ronergan Hill with the count of one person, six months before prosecutors charged Keonne Rodriguez and William Ronergan Hill with the count of one person, in order to convey money laundering and conspiracy. Their guidelines, Samourai Wallet, were not qualified as a money transfer business and did not require a license to operate.
The prosecutor moved forward and indicted Rodriguez and Hill anyway, and did not talk to the court or Samourai Wallet’s lawyer about communications with Finsen until April 1, 2025. The lawyer wrote.
“Even though Fincen took the same position regarding Samourai’s wallet and communicated it to these prosecutors, and even though the prosecutors accused him of committing a crime,” wrote Samourai Wallet’s lawyer in a filing.
Under the 1963 Landmark Supreme Court case, the court held that the government must give the defense in a timely manner an exculpatory or important evidence suggesting that the accused is not actually guilty. A Brady violation is considered a violation of the defendant’s due process, and is often the basis for the case being abandoned. In particular, the judge abandoned an involuntary manslaughter lawsuit against American actor Alec Baldwin after it was revealed last year in the middle of a trial that prosecutors failed to take over clear evidence.
Samourai Wallet’s lawyers said the government’s failure to disclose prior consultations with Fincen already biased the Rodriguez and Hill cases.
“The fact that, for example, the fact that the regulators issued licenses for the money transfer business did not believe that it was needed in Samourai’s wallets may (i) have a view of the government’s strength in the bail decision when making bail decisions that kept Rodriguez at his home for nearly a year, will make it usable by advocates because they are using the grants, and will be dismissed immediately after their arrest,” the filing said.
Last month, Samourai Wallet’s lawyers asked the court to abandon the trial under the sponsorship of the so-called “Blanche Memo.” This is a recent memo from U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to staff from the Department of Justice (DOJ) Staff (DOJ) that orders them to halt complaints of regulatory violations, including crypto, and stops them from becoming Cleiptaw’s end users.
The prosecutor met with the defense to consider the April 10 request, but almost a month later, they have yet to reach a conclusion. If the DOJ refuses to file a charge, Samourai Wallet’s lawyers have written to the court that they will file a motion to dismiss the case on several grounds, including that the defendant is not the remittance and “we were unable to prosecute because he has no license and has not implemented anti-moneylander control.”
However, the lawyers at Samorai Wallet said that, for the evidence that allegedly withheld, “Interpretation of the Department of Justice Law – whether it is the interpretation of the main regulatory authority or correct, the defendant is entitled to dismiss it due to the lack of fair notice.
The next hearing in this case is scheduled for July 22, 2025 at 1pm ET.
Fincen did not respond to Coindesk’s request for comment.
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