This week, a jury consisting of 12 members, including one who just celebrated their 90th birthday, participated in the deliberation of the case against Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm. They found Storm guilty of operating an unlicensed money transfer business, but no verdict has been reached on the other charges.
According to court documents released by Judge Katherine Failla on Thursday, the jurors in the Storm case had made several requests for information before announcing they were deadlocked on two of the charges.
The letter sent by the jury to the judge included requests for the testimony records of several witnesses, clarification of the charges, and specific inquiries regarding wallets under North Korean sanctions.
After the trial concluded on July 30, the jury deliberated for a week before ultimately declaring they could not reach a consensus on the money laundering and sanctions charges. Although each request for information or clarification delayed the decision, signs of a deadlock did not seem to appear until Wednesday morning.
The jury foreperson wrote at 10:38 AM Eastern Time on Wednesday: "We have made every effort to continue deliberating and reach a unanimous decision; however, even though we have made every effort to consider all arguments, some jurors still hold to their decisions, resulting in a deadlock." A few hours later, the jury announced they had reached a verdict on one of the charges.
According to the jury's instructions, the 12 jurors must unanimously agree that Storm conspired with others to engage in money laundering and that he "knowingly and willfully" participated in its illegal purpose.
The jury instructions noted: "Common sense tells you that when people are truly involved in or agree to join a criminal conspiracy, much of the content may not be explicitly expressed. Conspirators typically do not document their agreements in writing or publicly promote their plans."
The detailed instructions, along with the information requests, may partially explain some of the difficulties the jurors encountered in trying to form an opinion on whether Storm's role in the cryptocurrency mixing service constituted conspiracy to launder money and violate U.S. sanctions.
While the names of the jurors have been redacted in all court documents, the judge hinted that one juror celebrated her 90th birthday during the deliberation.
As of Friday, a sentencing hearing for Storm regarding the sole felony charge has not yet been scheduled. Additionally, it remains unclear whether the U.S. government intends to retry the Tornado Cash founder on the remaining charges.
As of Friday, Storm's sentencing hearing for the single felony charge has not been scheduled. It is still unclear whether the U.S. government plans to retry the co-founder of Tornado Cash on the remaining charges.
Cointelegraph has reached out to Storm's legal team but has not received a response by the time of publication.
Related: Potential retrial of Roman Storm delayed due to court postponement
Original article: “Jury Deliberation Process in the Case of Roman Storm”
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