U.S. Rests Its Case in the Elizabeth Holmes Trial

SAN JOSE, Calif. — For the earlier 11 weeks, prosecutors uncovered email messages from desperate investors. They held up falsified files aspect-by-aspect with the originals. They called dozens of witnesses who lobbed accusations of deceit and evasiveness.

And on Friday, immediately after questioning their 29th witness, prosecutors concluded their arguments in opposition to Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the failed blood testing commence-up Theranos. Ms. Holmes has pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of defrauding traders over Theranos’s know-how and business, in a case that has been billed as a referendum on Silicon Valley’s start-up lifestyle.

The prosecution’s resting its situation is a main turning issue in the trial of Ms. Holmes, whose rise and drop captivated the community and who has been held up as a image of the tech industry’s hubris and the previous decade’s culture of grift.

For months, prosecutors sought to paint Ms. Holmes, 37, as a liar who constructed Theranos into a $9 billion get started-up while realizing all alongside that the company’s blood checks, which ended up trumpeted as groundbreaking, didn’t get the job done. Prosecutors methodically outlined six principal parts of Ms. Holmes’s deception, such as lies about Theranos’s function with the armed service and pharmaceutical corporations, its small business efficiency and the accuracy of its blood assessments.

Her lawyers are now expected to argue that Theranos was basically a failure and not a fraud, boosting the query of regardless of whether Ms. Holmes will get the stand in her possess defense. In filings, her legal professionals have indicated that she is very likely to testify.

The stakes of the trial are superior. If Ms. Holmes is convicted, she faces up to 20 decades in jail for every count of fraud, and prosecutors may well be emboldened to go just after far more commence-ups that stretch the fact to increase funding. An acquittal could mail a message that Silicon Valley get started-ups, which have exploded in electric power and wealth about the previous decade, are hard to hold to account.

“When prosecutors relaxation their circumstance, they are in essence declaring they have plenty of to ask the jury to convict the defendant proper then and there,” explained Andrey Spektor, a lawyer at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner and previous federal prosecutor in New York’s Japanese District. He mentioned he envisioned the defense to place on a case, alternatively than simply just make it possible for the jury to come to a decision no matter if the prosecutors unsuccessful to demonstrate theirs.

Ms. Holmes, a Stanford University dropout who established Theranos in 2003 and raised $945 million from investors, was indicted on fraud prices in 2018. Her circumstance has been plagued for several years by delays: First in excess of procedure, then the pandemic and eventually, Ms. Holmes’s supplying beginning to a toddler in August.

When the demo eventually began in September, prosecutors known as previous investors, partners and Theranos workforce to testify. Jim Mattis, the retired 4-star Maritime Corps standard and former defense secretary who was a Theranos director, took the stand, as did a previous Theranos lab director who endured 6 grueling days of questioning. In just one surreal second, a forensics professional recited textual content messages in between Ms. Holmes and her then-boyfriend and company companion at Theranos, Ramesh Balwani, who is acknowledged as Sunny.

This week, Alan Eisenman, an early trader in Theranos, testified that Ms. Holmes minimize him off and threatened him when he requested her for far more facts about the firm. But even following that therapy, Mr. Eisenman poured a lot more money into the commence-up, believing its seemingly quickly-developing business would provide riches to backers like him.

When requested about his comprehending of the benefit of his Theranos stock today, Mr. Eisenman mentioned, “It’s not an comprehension, it’s a conclusion. It is worth zero.”

The prosecution’s most compelling proof provided a collection of validation reviews that Ms. Holmes sent to likely buyers and partners that manufactured it glimpse as nevertheless pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and Schering-Plough experienced endorsed Theranos’s technological innovation. Reps from each and every corporation testified that they experienced not endorsed Theranos’s blood test and were surprised to see their companies’ logos included to the report.

Daniel Edlin, who worked at Theranos and was a fraternity brother of Ms. Holmes’s brother, Christian, testified that the get started-up faked demonstrations of its machines for opportunity buyers, hid know-how failures and threw out irregular blood take a look at benefits.

Mr. Mattis testified that he was not informed of any contracts between Theranos and the military services to place its machines on medevac helicopters or on the battlefield, as Ms. Holmes experienced frequently informed investors.

The prosecution concluded its case with testimony from Roger Parloff, the journalist who wrote a journal address story about Ms. Holmes, helping propel her to acclaim. Mr. Parloff’s report was despatched to quite a few buyers as aspect of Ms. Holmes’s pitch.

Still notably absent from the courtroom ended up some of the most prominent witnesses on the prosecution’s checklist. Ms. Holmes’s increase was aided by her affiliation with enterprise titans this sort of as the media mogul Rupert Murdoch, elder statesmen this kind of as Henry Kissinger and Admiral Gary Roughead, and the attorney David Boies. Theranos was felled, in aspect, by whistle-blowers this sort of as Tyler Shultz, the grandson of George Shultz, the previous secretary of state who sat on Theranos’s board. None of them testified.

Also absent was Mr. Balwani, who was charged with fraud along with Ms. Holmes and faces demo future calendar year. His part as a fiery defender of Theranos who went just after anyone who questioned the enterprise has been in the history of substantially of the testimony.

At almost each and every transform, Ms. Holmes’s attorneys sought to limit testimony and proof. They attacked the trustworthiness of traders, utilizing legal disclaimers to exhibit that traders understood they had been gambling on a youthful start-up. The lawyers also poked holes in investors’ limited owing diligence on Theranos’s promises. At a person issue, they directed Erika Cheung, a crucial whistle-blower who labored in Theranos’s lab, to read through the total organizational chart of the individuals utilized in lab to display she played a modest part in the over-all procedure.

The defense effectively argued to have a person count of fraud in opposition to Ms. Holmes dropped. A client who gained a suspicious test from Theranos was barred from testifying previously this month.

Ms. Holmes’s lawyers are probably to attempt to shine a highlight on her marriage with Mr. Balwani. The two dated in secret. In court docket filings, Ms. Holmes alleged he was emotionally abusive and controlling. Mr. Balwani’s lawyers have denied the promises.

Testimony from Ms. Holmes is possible to revive the media circus bordering the trial’s early days, which died down as the months of testimony wore on. It would also open up her up to possibly damaging cross-examination from prosecutors or perjury.

“Most prison defendants do not testify, significantly in white-collar scenarios where the govt has a lot of worries to conquer, like in proving intent, and sometimes even in just proving that a crime occurred,” Mr. Spektor claimed. Ms. Holmes’s case is different, he claimed, due to the fact the offense is clear minimize and the evidence is reasonably quick to recognize.

During the proceedings, Ms. Holmes has been silent in the courtroom, only whispering to her lawyers or household members. But the jury heard her forcefully defending Theranos against accusations of fraud in movie interviews played in court docket. They also heard her accept blame.

“I’m the founder and C.E.O. of this enterprise,” she said in a single of the movies. “Anything that occurs in this enterprise is my obligation.”