Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes arrives for her fraud trial in federal court in San Jose, California on December 17, 2021.
Peter DaSilva | Reuters
SAN JOSE, Calif .– The 12 jurors who will determine the fate of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes will begin their deliberations on the testimony of 31 witnesses over three months.
The case was brought to the jury at around 4:40 p.m. PT on Friday after Judge Edward Davila read the instructions. Holmes, who started her blood testing company in 2003 and left Stanford to set it up, has been charged with nine wire fraud charges and two conspiracies to commit wire fraud. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years imprisonment. She pleaded not guilty.
Kevin Downey, Holmes’ defense attorney, made his final plea on Friday, arguing that his client should be acquitted on all counts.
“At the first sign of trouble, crooks cash in, criminals cover up and rats flee a sinking ship,” Downey said. “She didn’t do that.”
Downey said Holmes, now 37, devoted her life to building Theranos and never intended to scam investors. He reminded the jury that Holmes gave up college, abandoned her youth and lost friendships because “she believed she was building technology that could change the world”.
He stressed that Holmes ‘fortune was wrapped in Theranos’ success and that she never sold her shares.
“She went down with the ship when it went down,” Downey said. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is this woman.”
Downey spent over three hours putting down the government’s case. He said Holmes did not intentionally misrepresent the company’s financial data to attract money from investors.
Rupert Murdoch leaves the News Corporation building in New York City with his son Lachlan Murdoch (R) on July 21, 2016.
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Over a decade, Theranos raised $ 945 million from high profile investors including Rupert Murdoch of News Corp, Don Lucas and the family of Betsy DeVos, the former Secretary of Education. Some of these investors testified as government witnesses.
“People have lost money. I don’t mince my words,” Downey said. “Ms. Holmes certainly had no intention of making people lose money. This is a bad event and a failure on your part. “
The investors were seasoned people who “knew this was a new company, they knew it was speculative, and they knew it was a risk,” Downey said.
Holmes sat among her lawyers in the San Jose courtroom on Friday. She was flanked by her parents and partner Billy Evans.
‘The other choice’
After the defense finished their closing argument, prosecutors came back with their rebuttal, bringing back the spotlight on Holmes and the level of control they had over every aspect of their business.
“The disease that afflicted Theranos wasn’t a lack of effort but a lack of honesty,” said US Assistant Attorney John Bostic. “It wasn’t on the first floor, it was upstairs.”
Theranos shouldn’t be confused with a company that failed despite hard work, said Bostic.
“We admire people who set themselves ambitious goals and want to achieve them,” said Bostic. “This case went badly for Theranos and Mrs. Holmes when she made the other choice when she refused to accept failure and instead broke the law.”
For Holmes to be found guilty, the jury must unanimously unequivocally decide that the entrepreneur, once celebrated as the youngest self-made billionaire, wanted to defraud investors and patients.
Danny Cevallos, a legal analyst for NBC News, said the jury had a mountain of evidence to consider, given the number of witnesses who took the stand and the abundance of documents presented.
“With so much evidence and so much notices to discuss, the jury has to go through a lot of evidence if they want,” said Cevallos. “On the other hand, you can go back to the jury room and when the door closes you can look at yourself and say, ‘Neither of us believe a word she said.'”
A blatant omission in the defense’s closing argument was any mention of Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, Holmes’ former business associate and ex-boyfriend. Balwani was a centerpiece of Holmes’ statement. She got emotional when she told the jury that Balwani abused her physically and emotionally. She said he was in control of her and was responsible for overseeing the Theranos laboratory and finances.
Balwani is facing the same charges as Holmes and is due to be tried early next year. Nor did he plead guilty.
Downey didn’t pronounce Balwani’s name on Friday.
“It could hurt her,” said Cevallos. “I think the jury will be in the jury room and ask each other, ‘Why didn’t you mention all of this Balwani trauma at the end if it was so important to you?'”
Bostic decided to come back to the subject in his refutation. He told the jury that while the abuse statement was difficult to hear, it shouldn’t affect their decision.
“Since there is no evidence to link this experience to the accused behavior, it should be removed from your mind,” said Bostic. “Mrs. Holmes needed no encouragement from Mr. Balwani to deceive.”
CLOCK: Closing argument in the Elizabeth Holmes trial
