- Roman Storm could move for a mistrial.
- Prosecutors shouldn’t have called their first witness, one of his attorneys said.
- But prosecutors are standing by the witness’ testimony.
Attorneys for Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm might move for a mistrial after learning prosecutors called a witness with a tenuous connection to the controversial crypto protocol.
If the request were granted, Storm’s criminal trial would end, though prosecutors could choose to retry the case with a new jury.
It is a dramatic turn of events in a closely-watched trial entering its second week. Storm has been charged with conspiracy to launder money, operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and violate US sanctions. He faces 45 years in prison.
Crypto proponents say a guilty verdict could have a chilling effect on the development of privacy preserving software and decentralised finance. Storm has raised millions for his defence from prominent donors including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
On Monday, David Patton, one of the attorneys for Storm, questioned the testimony of the government’s first witness: Hanfeng Lin, a Taiwanese woman living in Georgia.
Lin recounted falling for a so-called pig butchering scam in 2021. A “crypto recovery service” she hired in 2022 told her some of the stolen crypto was laundered through Tornado Cash.
Prosecutors have said her testimony would prove that illicit funds were deposited in Tornado Cash and explain her decision to reach out to the protocol’s co-founders, thereby alerting them to the fact it was being misused.
But weekend research from the defence team suggested Lin’s money never went to Tornado Cash, Patton said on Monday.
“They called a very sympathetic alleged victim who, from our research over the weekend, we can’t find a connection between her funds and Tornado Cash,” he said.
If so, “she has utterly no relevance,” Patton continued. He told Judge Katherine Polk Failla he would ask to strike Lin’s testimony and might go so far as to move for a mistrial.
Storm’s defence raised the issue days after crypto security researcher Taylor Monahan assailed the government’s decision to call Lin to the witness stand for the very same reason.
Monahan said she was unable to find evidence Lin’s crypto ever went to Tornado Cash. On Monday, pseudonymous crypto sleuth ZachXBT endorsed her analysis.
But prosecutors are standing by Lin’s testimony.
On Monday, Assistant US Attorney Than Rehn said the government had just filed evidence demonstrating Lin’s crypto did, in fact, end up in Tornado Cash. A forthcoming government witness would help prove that point, he added.
Storm’s trial began on Monday. It is expected to last three weeks.
Aleks Gilbert is DL News’ New York-based DeFi correspondent. You can reach him at aleks@dlnews.com.
