Bid for new trial fails, Elizabeth Holmes awaits sentencing
A federal judge has rejected disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes’ bid for a new trial. Holmes is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 18.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal judge rejected a bid for a new trial for disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes after concluding that a key prosecution witness’ recent remorseful attempt to contact her wasn’t enough to award her another chance to avoid a potential prison sentence for defrauding investors at her blood-testing company.
The ruling issued late Monday by U.S. District Judge Edward Davila is the latest setback for Holmes, a former Silicon Valley star who once boasted an estimated net worth of $4.5 billion but is now facing up to 20 years in prison.
In the latest twist in a Silicon Valley soap opera, an Oct. 17 hearing about her request for a new trial focused on remorseful remarks made in August by former Theranos lab director Adam Rosendorff, a pivotal witness who testified about Holmes’ skullduggery during her trial last year.
Besides rejecting Holmes’ claim that a 10-minute visit Rosendorff made to her Silicon Valley home in August raised questions about misconduct at her trial, Davila rebuffed two other motions for another trial in his 15-page ruling.
One motion revolved around a description prosecutors made about her former lover and business partner, Rawesh “Sunny” Balwani, during closing arguments. The other motion focused on a dispute over whether the government withheld evidence pertaining to a Theranos database containing results of its blood tests.
Davila has scheduled Nov. 18 as the day he will sentence Holmes, 38, for four felony counts of investor fraud and engaging in a conspiracy with Balwani. Earlier Monday, Davila postponed Balwani’s sentencing for his conviction on 12 counts of investor and patient fraud from Nov. 15 to Dec. 7.
Holmes is facing up to 20 years in prison — a stunning reversal of fortune for a once-ballyhooed entrepreneur who appeared on the covers of magazines and on stage with luminaries such as former President Bill Clinton.
She was initially lionized as a visionary for a Theranos technology that she pledged could scan for hundreds of diseases and other potential problems with a few drops of blood. After explosive series of articles exposed serious flaws with Theranos tests that were jeopardizing patients, Holmes was portrayed as a greedy charlatan who brazenly lied to investors while raising nearly $1 billion.
After a jury convicted her in January, Holmes’ legal team first tried to persuade Davila to dismiss the verdicts as irrational. When that effort failed, Holmes’ lawyers last month filed a motion seeking a new trial, based on an uninvited visit that Rosendorff made to her palatial estate.
In court documents, William “Billy” Evans, who is reported to be Holmes’ husband, said an emotionally distraught Rosendorff confided that during his trial testimony, “he tried to answer the questions honestly but that the prosecutors tried to make everyone look bad” and Rosendorff thought “he had done something wrong.”
That was enough for Davila to postpone Holmes’ original Oct. 17 sentencing date to summon Rosendorff back to court three weeks ago. When he took the stand again, Rosendorff confirmed that he made the visit, but only as part of an effort to gain closure for a traumatic period in his life. He also said that he felt bad about his role in potentially separating Holmes from her young son, but emphasized that he stood by all his trial testimony and added that he believed it was time for Holmes “to pay her debt to society.”
“The court finds Dr. Rosendorff's statements under oath to be credible," Davila concluded in his ruling.