Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes is likely to face trial on charges of electronic fraud in the next six weeks after prosecutors and their defense team requested a postponement due to the pregnancy. She was due to be tried from July 13 this year.
The lawyers filed a lawsuit with judge Edward Davila on Friday asking for the trial to be postponed until August 31. Both sides agreed to the change.
“On March 2, 2021, the Defendant’s attorney informed the government that the Defendant is pregnant, with a due date scheduled for July 2020,” said the joint lawsuit.
“The parties met and checked, and both parties agree that, in view of this development, it is not feasible to start the trial on July 13, 2021, as currently envisaged.
The judge has not yet ruled on the delay, but given that the prosecution and defense requested it, it is likely to be granted. This would likely cause Holmes to be tried on the requested date – August 31st – but the judge may choose to exercise discretion at the precise moment,
Holmes and the former COO of Theranos Sunny Balwani are facing a dozen charges of electronic fraud related to their time at the company.
Both Holmes and Balwani face 20 years in federal prison if convicted. Holmes’ trial was initially scheduled for July 28, 2020, but was postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Founded by Holmes in 2003 with the intention of revolutionizing blood tests, Theranos said it created a machine that would do hundreds of blood tests in the laboratory from just one or two blood punctures on the finger.
The company raised more than $ 700 million in investments and quickly became a media sensation. Theranos has already been valued at $ 9 billion. However, Holmes was later accused of deceiving investors, doctors and patients when Theranos’ claims were found to be false. She was indicted in 2018.
“Based on these statements, many hundreds of patients have paid or made their medical insurers pay Theranos for blood tests and test results, sometimes following references from their fraudulent doctors,” said Holmes’ initial charge.
“This accusation alleges a corporate conspiracy to defraud financial investors,” said FBI special agent John Bennett in 2018. “This conspiracy deceived doctors and patients about the reliability of medical tests that put lives and health at risk.”
Holmes’ legal team expressed their intention to raise their mental state as part of their defense, writing in a previous lawsuit that they would present material “related to a mental illness or defect or any other mental condition of the defendant related to … a guilt issue. “
Prosecutors had the right to examine Holmes’ mental health and two experts, a psychologist and psychiatrist, were given the same rights.
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