Elizabeth Holmes returns to court in bid to avoid prison

Mar 17, 2023, 1:47 PM
Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes leaves federal court in San Jose, Calif., Friday, March 17, 20...
Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes leaves federal court in San Jose, Calif., Friday, March 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes on Friday made what might be her final court appearance before beginning a 11-year prison sentence, unless a judge grants her request to remain free while her lawyers appeal her conviction for masterminding a blood-testing hoax.

The 90-minute hearing came four months after Holmes’ last court hearing. That was when U.S. District Judge Edward Davila sentenced her for duping investors in Theranos, a startup she founded 20 years ago and rode to fleeting fame and fortune on her promises of a revolutionary blood-testing technology.

Before the hearing started, a man in the audience in the San Jose, California, courtroom tried to approach the table where Holmes was sitting while carrying a document in his hand. He was quickly intercepted by security officers who forcibly removed him. Holmes didn’t appear flustered by the disruption.

The proceedings ended without a determination whether Holmes, 39, will be able to stay out of prison while her appeal unfolds or have surrender to authorities on April 27, as currently scheduled. Davila said he hopes to issue his ruling in early April.

The judge earlier this month used a last-minute legal maneuver to gain more time.

Holmes came to her St. Patrick’s Day hearing wearing a black blazer and blue skirt. She recently gave birth to her second child, according to court documents that didn’t disclose the gender or birth date.

One of her lawyers, Amy Saharia, argued that Holmes should be allowed to remain free because of various missteps in the presentation and omission of evidence during her four-month trial that make it likely an appeals court will overturn her conviction on four counts of fraud and conspiracy.

“We think the record is teeming with issues,” Saharia asserted. She specifically cited Davila’s refusal to allow the jury to see a sworn deposition that Balwani gave during a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into Theranos’ downfall that Holmes’ defense team believes would have helped exonerate her.

Federal prosecutor Kelly Volkar countered there is “no likelihood for reversal” of Holmes’ conviction and asserted that the trial documented seven different categories of deception that she engaged in while running Theranos. Most of the deceit centered on a device dubbed “Edison” that Holmes had boasted would be able to scan for hundreds of diseases and other health problems with just a few drops of blood taken with a finger prick.

But the Edison produced such wildly unreliable results that Theranos began relying on third-party testing equipment already widely used on the market — a switch that Holmes concealed in an effort to keep the company afloat.

“That was shocking to investors,” Volkar reminded Davila.

The two opposing sides also sparred over how much restitution Holmes should pay defrauded investors whose trust briefly boosted her wealth to $4.5 billion based on Theranos’ peak value before its collapse.

Federal prosecutor Robert Leach argued her conviction for engineering a conspiracy justified restitution of nearly $900 million to repay Theranos investors swept up in her lies. “Just to apply common sense, the money these investors lost is the money they put in,” Leach said.

But Hollmes’ lawyer Patrick Looby countered that prosecutors were way off base by pursuing an “all or nothing” restitution amount. He noted that the jury in her trial couldn’t reach a verdict on three counts of investor fraud, prompting the prosecutor to dismiss those charges. At most, Looby contended, Holmes’ restitution penalty should be limited to the handful of investors who testified during her trial.

United States News

FILE - A woman walks near an uprooted tree, a flipped vehicle and debris from homes damaged by a to...
Associated Press

Tornadoes kill at least 11 across US Midwest and South

Tornadoes that tore through parts of the South and Midwest killed at least 11 people, collapsed the roof of a packed theater during a heavy metal concert in Illinois, and left small towns and big cities throughout the region bewildered Saturday by the damage.
17 hours ago
Debris covers the ground around damaged homes in Wynne, Ark., on Saturday, April 1, 2023. Unrelenti...
Associated Press

Tornado survivors recount flying debris, destroyed buildings

WYNNE, Ark. (AP) — With tornadoes hitting the Midwest and the South this weekend, some survivors said they emerged from their homes to find buildings ripped apart, vehicles tossed around like toys, shattered glass and felled trees. J.W. Spencer, 88, had never experienced a tornado before, but when he and his wife saw on TV […]
17 hours ago
FILE - Kaley Cuoco arrives at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, Sept. 12, 2022, at the Microsoft Thea...
Associated Press

Kaley Cuoco has 1st child, a daughter, with Tom Pelphrey

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kaley Cuoco is flying high after giving birth to her first child. The star of “ Instagram Saturday that she and fellow actor Tom Pelphrey now have a daughter named Matilda Carmine Richie Pelphrey. “The new light of our lives!” Cuoco posted, along with a series of pictures of the baby, […]
17 hours ago
In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, the sun rises above the Atlantic Ocean in t...
Associated Press

Local teen wins 7 Mile Bridge Run in Florida Keys

MARATHON, Fla. (AP) — A Florida teenager and an Atlanta woman won the overall men’s and women’s divisions Saturday at a footrace across the longest of 42 highway bridges over water in the Florida Keys. Vaclav “Vance” Bursa, 15, of Big Pine Key, Florida, finished first overall in the annual 7 Mile Bridge Run, posting […]
17 hours ago
Associated Press

Shipbuilder Austal executives accused of inflating earnings

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Three current and former former executives of a shipbuilder that constructs vessels for the U.S. Navy have been indicted on accounting fraud charges accusing them of falsely inflating the company’s reported earnings, federal prosecutors said. Craig Perciavalle, 52, Joseph Runkel, 54, and William Adams, 63, all of Mobile, Alabama, where Austal […]
17 hours ago
FILE - Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Republican-backed Dan Kelly and Democratic-supported Jane...
Associated Press

Wisconsin Supreme Court control, abortion access at stake

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — abortion access, Republican-drawn legislative maps and years of GOP policies in the key swing state rests with the outcome an election Tuesday that has seen record campaign spending. The winner of the high-stakes contest between Democratic-supported Janet Protasiewicz will determine majority control of the court headed into the 2024 presidential election. […]
17 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

(Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona Photo)...
Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona

5 common causes for chronic neck pain

Neck pain can debilitate one’s daily routine, yet 80% of people experience it in their lives and 20%-50% deal with it annually.
...
Day & Night Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing

Prep the plumbing in your home just in time for the holidays

With the holidays approaching, it's important to know when your home is in need of heating and plumbing updates before more guests start to come around.
(Photo via MLB's Arizona Fall League / Twitter)...
Arizona Fall League

Top prospects to watch at this year’s Arizona Fall League

One of the most exciting elements of the MLB offseason is the Arizona Fall League, which began its 30th season Monday.
Elizabeth Holmes returns to court in bid to avoid prison