Three Key Moments From Elizabeth Holmes’ Trial

Elizabeth Holmes founded Theranos - a blood-testing technology company - in 2003, when she was 19. She is facing 12 charges of fraud. (Illustration: Moneycontrol)

The fraud trial of Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the failed blood testing startup Theranos, began with jury selection on Aug. 31 and opening statements on Sept. 8. In the weeks that followed, jurors heard from 32 witnesses, including Holmes, in proceedings that featured dramatic allegations of abuse and long days discussing scientific terminology.

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Here were three of the key moments from the trial.

— Faked pharmaceutical validation reports

On Oct. 12, prosecutors showed a key piece of evidence: Theranos’ technology validation reports, which bore the logos of the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, Schering-Plough and GlaxoSmithKline.

Theranos had used the reports to solicit investors and woo commercial partners, even though the drug companies had neither prepared nor approved the reports. Prosecutors repeatedly pointed to the documents as a clear-cut example of fraud.

On Nov. 23, Holmes, 37, said on the stand that she had added the logos to the reports. It was the first time she acknowledged any personal involvement in the documents.

But Holmes said she had not intended to deceive anyone. She said that she added the logos to the reports “because this work was done in partnership with those companies and I was trying to convey that.”

— Accusations of abuse

Holmes teared up and her voice shook as she accused Ramesh Balwani, Theranos’ former chief operating officer and her ex-boyfriend, of emotional and physical abuse in her testimony on Nov. 29.

The bombshell accusations came at the end of her direct examination. Holmes said Balwani, who is 20 years older than her, controlled her schedule, criticized her mannerisms and forced her to have sex with him. Balwani, who faces his own fraud trial next year and has pleaded not guilty, has denied the accusations.

Holmes also testified that Balwani did not control her interactions with investors, journalists or executives. But, she said, “he impacted everything about who I was, and I don’t fully understand that.”

Prosecutors later told jurors to put the abuse accusations out of their minds and focus on the fraud charges instead.

“The case is about false statements made to investors and false statements made to patients,” Jeff Schenk, an assistant U.S. attorney and a lead prosecutor, said. “You do not need to question whether that abuse happened.”

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— Dueling narratives in closing arguments

For Holmes, everything came down to how the jury interpreted her intent.

During prosecutors’ closing argument on Dec. 16, Schenk argued that Holmes deliberately deceived investors, patients and advertisers with the pharmaceutical validation reports, faked technology demonstrations and inaccurate marketing materials.

​​“She chose fraud over business failure,” Schenk said.

But Kevin Downey, a lawyer for Holmes, countered in the defense’s closing argument that she had acted in good faith. He said that Holmes had believed her employees’ positive feedback about Theranos’ technology, that investors had known their bets were risky and that her statements had been misunderstood.

“She believed she was building a technology that would change the world,” Downey said.

(Author: Erin Woo )/(c.2021 The New York Times Company)