The Roman Storm trial has encountered a roadblock as the jury remains deadlocked on certain charges after four days of deliberation, as reported by Inner City Press on August 6th.
Judge Katherine Polk Failla informed the court that some jurors were entrenched in their positions, indicating a deadlock. She suggested that the court might have to consider accepting a partial verdict rather than waiting indefinitely for a full consensus.
Brian Klein, Storm’s attorney, urged the court to acknowledge the impasse of the jury. He recommended that the panel should categorize each charge as “Guilty,” “Not Guilty,” or simply mark “No Agreement” where agreement could not be reached.
Prosecutors, led by Assistant US Attorney Thane Arad, proposed a different approach of encouraging the jurors to deliver verdicts on charges where agreement existed and continue deliberating on the unresolved counts.
However, Judge Failla instructed the jury that they had the option to return any completed verdicts, continue discussing the unresolved counts, or formally declare their deadlock.
Storm, known for his involvement in the Ethereum-based privacy protocol Tornado Cash, is facing allegations of aiding in over $1 billion in money laundering.
The crypto community has rallied behind Storm, arguing that he simply created open-source code and should not be held accountable for how others utilized it. Figures like Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and organizations like DeFi Education Fund have spoken out, cautioning that the case could establish a dangerous precedent.
The debate revolves around the US Department of Justice’s contentious interpretation of financial laws. According to their stance, developers could be criminally liable for writing code that others later use unlawfully, even if the developers were not directly involved in those actions.
Industry leaders have expressed concerns that this approach could lead to the criminalization of software development itself. They are urging US lawmakers to clarify that writing code, particularly open-source tools, should not be equated with operating an unlicensed money transmission business.
As the community eagerly awaits the verdict in the Roman Storm trial, the outcome could have far-reaching implications for the future of software development and the crypto industry as a whole.