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After 15 weeks and 32 witnesses, Trial of Elizabeth HolmesThe founder of the failed blood test venture Theranos is entering its final stages.

On Thursday morning, prosecutors will begin their closing arguments to prove Ms. Holmes, 37, guilty of 11 counts of electronic fraud and conspiracy to commit electronic fraud.

His case is closely watched as a referendum on the worst excesses of Silicon Valley’s start-up culture, which rewards claims of change and rapid growth around the world. Decision may affect whether prosecutors follow up similar white collar criminal cases at a time when tech startups are swimming in funding and hype.

A jury of eight men and four women will begin to consider Ms. Holmes’ fate after the defense concludes its closing arguments on Friday. Ms. Holmes could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.

The prosecution’s case is summed up in proving one thing: Ms. Holmes intended to deceive Theranos investors, doctors, and patients with her claims about Theranos’ blood-testing technology. James Melendres, a former federal prosecutor, said proving intent is the hardest part of prosecuting a white-collar criminal case.

“It goes to what’s going on in someone’s mind that is extremely difficult to prove definitively,” he said.

Before Theranos exploded, Ms. Holmes stood out as a rare successful female founder in the male-dominated tech industry. He founded Theranos in 2003, left Stanford in 2004 to work on the start-up, and raised nearly $1 billion from investors for the company’s supposedly revolutionary blood testing technology.

But Wall Street Journal investigation In 2015 it was revealed that Theranos’ technology was not working and Ms. Holmes was courting investors and trading partners with exaggerated and misleading claims. The company collapsed in 2018 amid the scandal.

That same year, Ms. Holmes was charged with fraud charges. his trial to start on September 8 after numerous delays.

Prosecutors identified six major areas of Ms. Holmes’ alleged deception, including lies about Theranos’ technology’s capabilities, its work with the military, and its commercial performance.

the government called former Theranos employees Witnessing about test failures and a dysfunctional lab environment. Doctors and patients described how they made medical decisions based on the Theranos tests, which turned out to be inaccurate. and investors and pharmaceutical managers aforementioned That Ms. Holmes’ misleading claims have led them to invest millions of dollars in Theranos or sign a contract with her company.

Last month, Miss Holmes took the podium and portrayed himself as a bona fide entrepreneur who was naive and overly trusting of those around him. he said he was emotionally and physically abused with Ramesh Balwani, Theranos’ former chief operating officer and ex-boyfriend. Faced with the same fraud charges as Ms. Holmes and set to stand trial next year, Mr. Balwani denied the allegations.