A federal judge heard arguments on whether to acquit Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm on conspiracy charges, but signaled she may not be ready to make a decision anytime soon.
Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York presided over a hearing on Storm's motion for acquittal under Criminal Rule 29, which asks the court to throw out charges when the prosecution's evidence is legally insufficient. Storm was convicted last August of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, but a jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on two more serious charges — conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions — resulting in a partial mistrial.
Storm's attorneys argued that Tornado Cash is a legal, non-custodial protocol and that his work maintaining the software does not make him liable for criminal actors who also used the platform. His defense team has maintained since the original trial that Storm had no operational control over transactions and never intended for the protocol to be used by criminals. They further argued that denying the acquittal would effectively criminalize the publication of decentralized software in violation of the First Amendment.
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