Elizabeth Holmes Jury Says It’s Deadlocked on 3 of 11 Criminal Charges in Theranos Fraud Trial
The jury weighing fraud charges against former entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes is unable to reach a unanimous verdict on three of the 11 criminal counts she faces, according to a note from the panel read aloud in court.
After conferring with lawyers for the defense and prosecution, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila sent for the jury in order to encourage it to deliberate further.
Once the jury returned to court, Davila instructed its members to do their best to reach a verdict, noting that they should re-examine their own views and change their opinions if persuaded they are wrong. He also reminded them that charges must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Jurors then returned to their deliberations, which they began on Monday after an extended holiday break.
The eight men and four women who will determine Holmes’ fate spent much of their holiday season behind closed doors in a San Jose, California, courthouse, weighing reams of evidence presented during a three-month trial that captivated Silicon Valley.
When they were still unable to reach a verdict by the middle of last week, the jurors were given Thursday off before an already scheduled court holiday on Friday. They hadn’t provided any inkling where they stood in their deliberations last week after sending two notes to the federal judge presiding over the case the previous week.
No reason was given for pausing the deliberations earlier than expected last week. The jury so far has spent a total of roughly 40 hours across six days discussing the charges against Holmes, a former Silicon Valley star CEO facing up to 20 years in prison if she is found guilty.
Holmes, 37, is facing 11 criminal charges alleging that she duped investors and patients by hailing her company’s blood-testing technology as a medical breakthrough when in fact it was prone to wild errors.
Elizabeth Holmes (right) speaks as former U.S. President Bill Clinton (left) listens during the closing session of the Clinton Global Initiative 2015 on September 29, 2015, in New York City. (JP Yim/Getty Images)
Elizabeth Holmes (left) and Alan Murray speak at Fortune magazine’s Fortune Global Forum on November 2, 2015, in San Francisco, California. (Kimberly White/Getty Images for Fortune)
NBC News Special Anchor Maria Shriver (left) and Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes speak onstage during the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit on October 6, 2015, in San Francisco, California. (Mike Windle/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)
Before those problems were exposed in 2015 and 2016 by stories in the Wall Street Journal and a regulatory audit, Holmes briefly realized her aspirations for fame and fortune while raising more than $900 million from a list of renowned investors that included media mogul Rupert Murdoch, software mogul Larry Ellison, and the Walton family behind Walmart.
At Theranos’ height, Holmes had amassed a fortune of $4.5 billion on paper and was being lionized as a visionary in glowing media coverage that included a famous a cover story in Forbes magazine and a profile in the New Yorker. Federal prosecutors allege that Holmes used this positive media coverage to lure the investors she is now charged with defrauding.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
