Elizabeth Holmes trial - live: Former Theranos employees expected to take the stand as founder accused of ‘lying and cheating’
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The trial of Theranos founder and former CEO Elizabeth Holmes continues on Tuesday as prosecutors representing the US government will attempt to prove to the jury that it was the intent of Ms Holmes to mislead investors, patients, and doctors about what her blood-testing technology was capable of in order to get ahold of their money.
During the opening statement for the US government, a federal prosecutor said that Ms Holmes “decided to lie” because she was “out of time and out of money”.
“This is a case about fraud, about lying and cheating to get money,” Prosecutor Robert Leach said. He added that in 2009, Theranos was short on cash as it got less and less work, and the company could barely pay its employees.
Lance Wade, a defence lawyer for Ms Holmes, told the court: “Elizabeth Holmes did not go to work every day to lie, cheat and steal. The government would have you believe that her company, that her entire life, is a fraud. That is wrong. That is not true.”
Ms Holmes, 37, who has pleaded not guilty, founded her company in 2003 at the age of 19 after dropping out of Stanford. The goal of Theranos was to radically change how blood testing is done. She now faces up to 20 years in prison if she is found guilty of the charges.
Court documents have revealed that the defence team may argue that another Theranos executive, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, 56, who is also Ms Holmes’ ex-boyfriend, emotionally, sexually, and physically abused Ms Holmes. That meant that he was in control, not her, the defence may argue. Mr Balwani, who served as the president and chief operating officer after joining Theranos in 2009, is facing his own trial early next year and has forcefully rejected the claims of abuse. He has also pleaded not guilty.
Theranos was at one point valued at $9bn as the company promised that their technology could test for diseases like cancer and diabetes by just taking a few drops of blood with a finger stick. Ms Holmes partnered up with retail giants such as Walgreens and Safeway and could be seen on the covers of magazines where she was described as the richest self-made woman.
But a 2015 Wall Street Journal investigation into the company was the beginning of the end for Theranos, which was dissolved in 2018. The trial of Ms Holmes, which has been delayed several times by the pandemic and her pregnancy, is expected to take around 13 weeks.
Opening statements set to begin at 12pm ET
Opening statements are set to begin at 9am local time in California – 12pm on the East Coast.
Elizabeth Holmes enters courthouse ahead of opening statements
No audio or video will be broadcast from inside the courtroom
There will be no audio or video streamed from inside the courtroom, according to Rebecca Jarvis of ABC News.
The seats inside the courtroom are ticketed.
There were about 100 reporters and cameramen lined up outside the courthouse waiting for Elizabeth Holmes to arrive, KRON4 reported.
Court now in session as opening statements set to begin
The court is now in session as opening statements from Elizabeth Holmes’ defence team and US prosecutors are set to start.
Legal teams preview opening statements
The defence team for Elizabeth Holmes has said that their opening statement will be about two hours long.
The prosecutors for the US government have said that their opening statement will take between 45 and 50 minutes.
Who will take the stand?
Elizabeth Holmes herself is on the list of potential witnesses that includes around 200 people, such as former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Defence Secretary James Mattis, and media mogul and Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch.
Mr Kissinger and General Mattis both served on the board of Theranos and Mr Murdoch invested in the company.
Patients who were falsely diagnosed by Theranos tests are set to testify during the trial. According to NPR, some were told they had HIV when they didn’t, and one woman was falsely told she had had a miscarriage.
Elizabeth Holmes ‘fans’ try to catch glimpse of former CEO as she arrives to court
Three women who said they were “fans” of Elizabeth Holmes tried to catch a glimpse of the Theranos founder as she arrived to the courthouse on Wednesday morning, according to Dorothy Atkins of Law360.
Investor who lost six figures: ‘She decimated people financially and medically’
An investor who lost six figures after investing in Theranos has told NPR that Elizabeth Holmes “always seems to land on her feet even though she decimated people financially and medically ... will see if the jury is smart enough to see through her”.
Elizabeth Holmes outfit popular Halloween costume in Silicon Valley
Jury and alternates enter courtroom to hear opening statements
The jury and alternates have entered the courtroom to listen to the opening statements of the defence team and US prosecutors.
Elizabeth Holmes is charged with ten counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
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