Elizabeth Holmes’ bid for new trial takes hit as key witness stands by original testimony

Adam Rosendorff said that he had gone to Holmes’ house because he was “increasingly distressed” after learning that she had become pregnant with her second child

A key witness in the Elizabeth Holmes trial has reiterated his initial testimony, risking Holmes’ bid for a new trial.

In September, the disgraced Theranos founder requested a new trial and stated that former Theranos lab director Adam Rosendorff visited her home on 8 August and told her partner, Billy Evans, that prosecutors had twisted his testimony to “make everyone look bad.”

Mr Evans described the encounter over email to Holmes’ lawyers, who then argued to US District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California, that the prosecution allegedly engaged in misconduct, the Associated Press reported. The defence had relied heavily on Rosendorff’s uninvited visit to her residence for the new trial request.

But when asked on Monday about his original testimony to federal court, Mr Rosendorff said: “Yes, at all times I testified truthfully and honestly to the best of my recollection.”

Mr Rosendorff said that he had gone to Holmes’ house in Silicon Valley after learning that she had become pregnant with her second child, and because he was “increasingly distressed” that her children would spend their first years of life without their mother. Holmes’ pregnancy has not been confirmed, according to the AP.

He added: “The government was trying to get to the truth of what happened — what Elizabeth Holmes did ... I don’t want to help Ms Holmes. The only person that can help her is herself. She needs to pay her debt to society.”

The request by Holmes’ defence was made eight months after she was found guilty of conspiracy and defrauding Theranos investors for her role in the collapse of the blood testing company she founded after dropping out of Stanford University in 2003. She faces a maximum sentence of 20 years for every charge

Mr Rosendroff’s testified at Holmes’s trial that he alerted Holmes to issues in the Theranos lab and faced an intense, days-long cross-examination from Holmes’s attorneys who noted that Mr Rosendroff worked in several other labs that had regulatory issues.

Notably, Mr Rosendroff was also a source for the Wall Street Journal article that precipitated Theranos’ demise in October 2015.

Holmes was found guilty in January of three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

She faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each count of fraud. Ms Holmes’ business partner and ex-romantic partner Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani was also convicted of fraud earlier this year.