Happy Nice Mall

SAN JOSE, California — For the past 11 weeks, prosecutors have exposed emails from desperate investors. They kept the fake documents side by side with the originals. They summoned dozens of witnesses who voiced accusations of deception and evasion.

And on Friday, prosecutors concluded their argument against him after questioning his 29th witness. Elizabeth Holmes, founder of the failed blood test startup Theranos. Mrs Holmes pleaded not guilty 11 numbers defrauding investors On Theranos’ technology and business, in a case billed as a referendum on Silicon Valley’s start-up culture.

In the case of Ms. Holmes, whose rise and fall has captivated the public and is seen as a symbol of the world, the prosecution’s recess is an important turning point. arrogance of the tech industry and the last ten years grift culture.

For weeks, prosecutors have tried to portray Ms. Holmes, 37, as the liar who turned Theranos into a $9 billion start-up, and she knew all along that the company’s blood tests were said to be revolutionary and didn’t work. Prosecutors neatly outlined six key areas of Ms. Holmes’ deception, including Theranos’ work with the military and pharmaceutical companies, her job performance, and lies about the accuracy of blood tests.

Her lawyers are now expected to argue that Theranos was simply a failure and not a fraud, which raises the question of whether Ms. Holmes will take a stand in her own defense. In the applications, his lawyers stated that he was likely to testify.

The risks of judgment are high. If Ms. Holmes is found guilty, she faces up to 20 years in prison for each fraudulent charge, and prosecutors may be encouraged to pursue more new attempts to bend the truth to secure funding. An acquittal may send the message that it is difficult to hold to account the Silicon Valley start-ups that have exploded in power and wealth over the past decade.

“When prosecutors look into their cases, they basically say they have enough justification to ask the jury to convict the defendant right there,” said Andrey Spektor, attorney for Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner and former federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York. He said the defense is waiting for the jury to file a case, rather than letting the jury decide whether prosecutors have proven themselves.

Holmes, who left Stanford University, who founded Theranos in 2003 and raised $945 million from investors, was charged with fraud charges in 2018. Her case has been plagued with delays for years: first the process, then the pandemic, and finally Miss Holmes. Holmes gives birth to a baby in August.

When trial finally started in September, prosecutors urged former investors, partners and employees of Theranos to testify. Jim Mattis, the former secretary of defense, a retired four-star Marine Corps general and director of Theranos, took the stand like a former Theranos lab director who had endured six grueling days of interrogation. In a surreal moment, a forensic scientist read text messages between Ms. Holmes and Ramesh Balwani, known as Sunny, her then-boyfriend and business partner at Theranos.

Alan Eisenman, an early investor in Theranos, said this week that Ms. Holmes cut and threatened her when she asked for more information about the company. Even after this treatment, however, Mr. Eisenman poured more money into the new company, believing his ostensibly fast-growing business would enrich supporters like him.

When asked about his understanding of the present value of Theranos stock, Mr. Eisenman said, “This is a conclusion, not an understanding. It’s worth zero.”

Including the prosecution’s most convincing evidence a set of verification reports The information Ms Holmes sent to potential investors and partners made it appear as if pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and Schering-Plough had approved Theranos’ technology. Representatives from each company expressed their disapproval of Theranos’ blood test and were surprised to see their company’s logo attached to the report.

Daniel Edlin, who works at Theranos and is the fraternal elder brother of Miss Holmes’s brother Christian, testified He said the start-up is faking fake demonstrations of its machines, hiding technology flaws and revealing abnormal blood test results for potential investors.

Mr. Mattis testified As Ms Holmes has often told investors, she said she was not aware of any contracts between Theranos and the military to deploy their machines on medevac helicopters or on the battlefield.

Prosecutor’s case concluded Roger Parloff’s statement, the journalist who wrote a magazine cover story about Miss Holmes and helped garner her acclaim. Mr. Parloff’s article was sent to numerous investors as part of Ms. Holmes’ speech.

Yet those who were not particularly absent from the courtroom were some of the foremost witnesses on the prosecution’s list. Ms. Holmes’ ascent was aided by her association with business giants such as media mogul Rupert Murdoch, elder statesmen such as Henry Kissinger and Admiral Gary Roghead, and lawyer David Boies. Theranos was ousted, in part, by whistleblowers such as Tyler Shultz, grandson of former secretary of state George Shultz, who sat on Theranos’ board of directors. None testified.

Nor was Mr Balwani, who was charged with fraud and will be tried next year, along with Ms. Holmes. His role as an ardent defender of Theranos, who goes after anyone who questions the company, has been in the background for much of the testimony.

At nearly every opportunity, Ms. Holmes’ lawyers sought to limit testimony and evidence. They attacked the credibility of investors, using legal disclaimers to show that they knew they were gambling on a young start-up. Lawyers have also drilled holes in investors’ limited due diligence on Theranos’ claims. At one point, they directed Erika Cheung, a key informant working in Theranos’ lab, to read the entire organizational chart of the people working in the lab to demonstrate that she played a minor role in the overall operation.

The defense successfully argued for a scam count against Ms Holmes. A patient who took a questionable test from Theranos was barred from testifying earlier this month.

Ms. Holmes’ lawyers will likely try to shed light on her relationship with Mr. Balwani. The two of them went out secretly. In her court filings, Ms. Holmes claimed she was emotionally abusive and controlling. Mr. Balwani’s lawyers denied the allegations.

Ms. Holmes’ testimony is likely to revive the media circus surrounding the early days of the trial, which dwindled as the weeks of testimony wore on. It would also be open to potentially damaging cross-examination from prosecutors or perjury.

“Most criminal defendants do not testify in white-collar cases, especially where there are many challenges to overcome, such as proving the government’s intent and sometimes even just proving that a crime has been committed,” Spektor said. Ms. Holmes’ case is different, she said, because the crime is so obvious and the evidence pretty easy to understand.

Throughout the hearings, Ms. Holmes remained silent in the courtroom, only whispering to her lawyers or family members. But the jury heard him forcibly defending Theranos against fraud charges in video interviews played out in court. They also heard that he pleaded guilty.

“I am the founder and CEO of this company” said in one of the videos. “Everything that happens in this company is my responsibility.”