Roman Storm’s trial faces possible delay over key witness testimony

Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, may see a delay in his criminal trial if a judge denies his lawyers’ motion to exclude testimony from a witness linked to an alleged hack.

Storm’s defence team filed a motion in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking to bar testimony from an unnamed witness described as the “claimed perpetrator of an alleged hack who allegedly used Tornado Cash.”

The lawyers argued the witness was disclosed after the deadline and that their testimony could unfairly prejudice the jury against Storm.

“The testimony would likely confuse and mislead the jurors into believing that Mr. Storm was involved in the underlying purported hack or intended to facilitate it, which is not true.” the filing stated.

“is likely to evoke an angry response from jurors, which would likely spill over to Mr. Storm.” it also warned the testimony.

The defence reserved the right to request a brief continuance of the trial if the motion is denied.

The trial is set to begin jury selection on Monday, nearly two years after Storm was indicted on charges including money laundering and conspiracy to violate US sanctions.

Interim US attorney Jay Clayton has described some witnesses as “victims” of crimes involving Tornado Cash and opposed Storm’s attempts to exclude them.

Judge Katherine Failla is expected to rule on the motions by Friday.

“SDNY is trying to crush me, blocking every expert witness. If I lose, DeFi dies with me.” Storm has publicly criticised the prosecution, stating on social media.

Since Storm’s 2023 indictment, figures in the crypto community including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Paradigm founder Matt Huang have supported his legal defence.

Another Tornado Cash co-founder, Alexey Pertsev, was convicted of money laundering in the Netherlands and sentenced to over five years in prison in 2024.

Roman Semenov, also named in the indictment, remains at large and is believed to be in hiding in Russia.