The Tornado Cash Trail began today in the Southern Region of New York (SDNY).
Only during the first 90 minutes of the day, Judge Phila, the judge who was on the trial, worked in prosecution and defense before the court. The rest of the day was dedicated to the ju-describer’s selection process.
The judge began the session by discussing three remaining allegations on Limin from the defense, including those relating to opposition to data extraction from mobile phones by Tornado Cash co-founder Alexey Pertsev, and another move on to Brady requests by the defense.
Limine #1 Movement: Data Extraction from Persev Phone
In both the status meeting on Friday and the letter sent to court over the weekend, the defense questioned the integrity of the data extracted from Alexei Pertef’s phone.
He argued that some of the messages in the data, especially Pertsev’s telegram messages, should be acceptable as they lack context.
The defense specifically referred to one message. This refers to the quote that he misquoted Pertsev.
The message referenced the $600 million cryptographic exploit from online game Axie Infinity. The funds were washed through Tornado Cash. What court records originally did not show is that this message was forwarded by a reporter in Koindsk to the Roman storm in Pertsev.
The judge addressed the issue, but said it was not a basis to exclude the remaining data extracted from Pertsev’s phone from the body of evidence in the case.
Limine #2 move: Deny Brady Request for Defense
Judge Phila also denied the recent Brady request for defense. (This type of request was named after the Bradyv. Maryland Supreme Court Case, which was made in 1963. The case established the Brady rules.
“The idea that there is faster information is very unlikely,” Judge Phila said.
The defense did not push back the judge’s decision.
It raises doubts about the legitimacy of data provided by custodians
Some of the data prosecutors plan to use as evidence in their cases was provided by companies including Apple, X, and Dragonfly (a venture capital firm that invested in Tornado Cash).
The defense questioned the legitimacy of the data provided in light of recent discoveries of false induction telegram messages.
Representatives of these companies requested that they testify during trial regarding the legitimacy of the data.
Judge Phila denied the request and said that such testimony was not necessary.
The defense accepted the denial as it was related to Apple and X, but pushed back against requests related to Dragonfly, calling for questions about the relevance of the data provided by Dragonfly and the devices on which the data was retrieved.
Issues with Dragonfly Telegram Messages
The defense argued that telegram messages from Dragonfly employees should not be included in evidence that the company should not be handed over to court (although it also states that it is OK for the company tornado cash transactions to be handed over).
In response, the prosecutors acknowledged that some of these telegram messages contained hearsay, but explained that the message also includes information about tornado cash business transactions and therefore should not be excluded from the body of evidence.
Judge Faira then cited the 2020 Second Circuit case from the US v. Elgamal.
The prosecution also cited us and Figueroa. This is a 2023 lawsuit that found it legal to recognize a business record that is legal in a particular context, claiming that the telegram message obtained by the court is a business record and is related to the case.
In a final statement on the issue, the defense argued that it speculated that the device on which the telegram message was obtained was a company-owned device.
Judge Phila was particularly surprised by the statement, but said the defense had no basis for the claim and there was a recognition that stated that the phone was indeed a company’s device.
Prosecutors added that the records produced by Dragonfly corresponded to the large ju judge’s summons.
Ju-referee’s choice
The ju apprentice selection process began at 11:15am ET and continued for the rest of the day.
Of the 90 potential ju apprentices, approximately 45 people addressed the court and/or spoke with the judge in a sidebar session.
The ju apprentice selection process will resume tomorrow at 9am ET.
If time allows, the prosecutor and defense will issue an opening statement later tomorrow.
Source: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/tornado-cash-trial-begins-with-discussions-around-motions-in-limine-and-data-custodians
