(New York) The founder of the Theranos start-up, which promised to revolutionize blood tests and was convicted of fraud, requested a new trial on Tuesday, citing the reversal of a key witness.
Posted at 7:02 p.m.
Convicted in January by the jury of a federal court in San Jose (California), Elizabeth Holmes must, in the state, see her sentence pronounced on September 26.
She faces 20 years in prison for each of the four counts against her.
In a letter sent Tuesday to federal judge Edward Davila, who presided over the 15-week trial between the beginning of September and the end of December 2021, Elizabeth Holmes’ lawyers indicate that she received a visit from the former director in early August. from Theranos lab, Adam Rosendorff.
The latter did not see the 38-year-old entrepreneur but spoke with her companion, William Evans, who related the conversation to the lawyers.
According to him, the researcher explained that he wanted to “answer the questions honestly” asked during the trial, but the prosecutors had “tried to present everyone (theranos alumni) in a bad light”.
“He said that the prosecution had presented things more negatively than reality during his hearing,” continued William Evans.
In particular, he challenged the notion that Elizabeth Holmes deliberately sought to mislead investors about Theranos’ results and outlook.
“Everyone was working hard to accomplish something good and meaningful,” insisted Adam Rosendorff, according to Elizabeth Holmes’ companion. The doctor believes he “made a mistake” and says he wants to “help” his former boss.
For Elizabeth Holmes’ lawyers, the intervention of Adam Rosendorff justifies the holding of a new trial, in particular because he “produced false testimony before the jury”.
If the judge refused to order a new trial on the sole basis of these new elements, the defense requests, at the very least, a new hearing of Adam Rosendorff to clarify the content of his remarks.
Elizabeth Holmes has become one of the symbols of the excesses of Silicon Valley culture.
She had founded Theranos in 2003, when she was just 19, and promised diagnostic tools that were faster and cheaper than those of traditional laboratories.
Her charisma and self-confidence, as well as being a rare woman in a predominantly male world, had enabled her to attract celebrities and high-profile investors to the bedside of a company that would prove to be a house of cards, unable to produce conclusive results.