In a recent Manhattan hearing, the judge presiding over the Tornado Cash case announced that the verdict from the related Van Loon vs. Department of the Treasury case will not be discussed during the upcoming trial of Roman Storm. The hearing, which was the final in-person status conference before Storm's trial, primarily focused on pretrial motions from both the prosecution and the defense.
Judge Katherine Polk Failla decided to rule on several of these motions, including the exclusion of testimony about the Van Loon case, which involved the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control's (OFAC) ability to sanction Tornado Cash. Although OFAC delisted Tornado Cash in March and a federal judge in Texas found that OFAC's sanctioning of Tornado Cash was illegal, Failla remains undecided on whether to allow discussion of OFAC's sanctions against Tornado Cash during the trial, citing concerns that it may confuse the jury. The trial, now expected to last a full month, is set to begin on July 14 in Manhattan.