The judge in the Tornado Cash case delivered an oral ruling today, rejecting both the Defense’s motion to compel discovery and their motion to dismiss the charges.
It's not pretty.
Here's a quick summary of a few important points:
- The motion to compel is denied as the judge concluded that the Defense didn't meet the burdens necessary at this point related to the information they seek. She did warn the government that they had better play fair under Brady, but wasn't ready to even do an in camera review.
- The Money Transmitter laws aren't vague, and are sufficiently clear.
- There was no need for the Defendants to control the funds (!)
- There is no first amendment protection for functional code (!)
There's much more, as the oral decision took over an hour to read.
There should be a full transcript uploaded to PACER once the court reporter releases it.