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Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes arrives to attend her fraud trial at federal courtroom in San Jose, California, December 17, 2021.
Peter DaSilva | Reuters
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The 12 jurors who will resolve the destiny of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes are left to think about the testimony from 31 witnesses over three months as they start their deliberations.
The case was handed to the jury round 4:40 p.m. PT on Friday, after Decide Edward Davila completed studying the directions. Holmes, who began her blood-testing firm in 2003 and dropped out of Stanford to construct it, is charged with 9 counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She faces as much as 20 years in jail if convicted. She pleaded not responsible.
Kevin Downey, Holmes’ protection legal professional, made his last plea earlier on Friday, arguing that his consumer must be acquitted on all counts.
“On the first signal of bother, the crooks money out, criminals cowl up and rats flee a sinking ship,” Downey stated. “She did not do any of that.”
Downey stated Holmes, who’s now 37, devoted her life to constructing Theranos and by no means supposed to defraud buyers. He reminded jurors that Holmes gave up a school training, gave up her youth and misplaced friendships as a result of “she believed that she constructed a expertise that might change the world.”
He emphasised that Holmes’ wealth was wrapped up in Theranos’ success and that she by no means bought any of her shares.
“She went down with that ship when it went down,” Downey stated. “Women and gents, that’s who this girl is.”
Downey spent over three hours making an attempt to knock down the federal government’s case. He stated Holmes did not deliberately misrepresent the corporate’s financials to draw cash from buyers.
Rupert Murdoch leaves the Information Company constructing together with his son Lachlan Murdoch (R) on July 21, 2016 in New York Metropolis.
Getty Pictures
Over the course of a decade, Theranos raised $945 million from high-profile buyers, together with Information Corp’s Rupert Murdoch, Don Lucas and the household of Betsy DeVos, the previous training secretary. A few of these buyers testified as authorities witnesses.
“Individuals misplaced cash. I do not mince phrases about that,” Downey stated. “Ms. Holmes definitely didn’t intend for individuals to lose cash. That is a foul occasion and a failure on her half.”
The buyers have been subtle individuals who “knew this was a brand new enterprise, they knew it was speculative they usually knew it was a danger,” Downey stated.
Holmes sat between her attorneys contained in the San Jose courtroom on Friday. She was flanked by her dad and mom and her companion, Billy Evans.
‘The opposite alternative’
After the protection wrapped up its closing argument, the prosecution got here again with its rebuttal and put the highlight again on Holmes and the extent of management she exercised over each side of her firm.
“The illness that plagued Theranos wasn’t a scarcity of effort, it was a scarcity of honesty,” stated Assistant U.S. Lawyer John Bostic. “It wasn’t on the floor stage, it was on the prime.”
Theranos should not be confused for an organization that failed regardless of exhausting work, Bostic stated.
“We admire individuals who set formidable targets and got down to obtain them,” Bostic stated. “This case went dangerous for Theranos and Ms. Holmes when she made the opposite alternative, when she refused to simply accept failure and turned to breaking the legislation as a substitute.”
To ensure that Holmes to be discovered responsible, the jury should unanimously resolve past an inexpensive doubt that the entrepreneur, as soon as hailed because the youngest self-made feminine billionaire, supposed to defraud buyers and sufferers.
Danny Cevallos, an NBC Information authorized analyst, stated the jury has a mountain of proof to think about, given the variety of witnesses who took the stand and the trove of paperwork introduced.
“With a lot proof and so many communications to pour over, the jury has loads of proof to undergo in the event that they need to,” Cevallos stated. “However, they could stroll again into that jury room, and when the door shuts, they could take a look at one another and say, ‘None of us consider a phrase she stated.'”
A obtrusive omission within the protection’s closing argument was any point out of Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, Holmes’ former enterprise companion and ex-boyfriend. Balwani was a centerpiece of Holmes’ testimony. She bought emotional telling the jury that Balwani abused her bodily and emotionally. She stated he exerted management over her and was accountable for overseeing the Theranos lab and funds.
Balwani faces the identical expenses as Holmes and is about to face trial early subsequent yr. He additionally pleaded not responsible.
Downey did not utter Balwani’s identify on Friday.
“It may harm her,” Cevallos stated. “I believe jurors will probably be within the jury room and ask one another, ‘Why did not they point out all this trauma from Balwani in closing if it was so necessary to them?'”
Bostic opted to come back again to the subject in his rebuttal. He instructed the jury that whereas the abuse testimony was tough to listen to, it shouldn’t sway their resolution.
“Within the absence of any proof linking that have to the charged conduct, you must put it out of your thoughts,” Bostic stated. “Ms. Holmes didn’t want encouragement from Mr Balwani so as to be misleading.”
WATCH: Closing arguments within the Elizabeth Holmes trial
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