Elizabeth Holmes faces last-ditch chance to testify at trial
BNN Bloomberg
The Theranos CEO casting herself as an abuse victim could be powerful.
Jurors in the trial of Elizabeth Holmes have heard a lot about the Theranos Inc. founder in the past 10 weeks. They may be about to hear from her directly.
Lawyers for the disgraced entrepreneur said in pre-trial filings they expected her to testify as part of a defense that she was abused and controlled by the company’s president, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani. While her testimony isn’t certain, Holmes’s taking the stand would shake up the sometimes sleepy proceedings in Silicon Valley’s most high-profile court case.
As the prosecution wraps up its case — arguing that Holmes was exceptionally deceptive in building Theranos into a US$9 billion company before it collapsed in 2018 — she may have little choice but to testify to convince the jury she’s not guilty.
“The only thing that can overcome mountains of evidence is if the jury believes your client,” said Christina Marinakis, a jury consultant at IMS Litigation Insights in Los Angeles, who has degrees in law and psychology. “It’s your last-ditch effort to get the jury back on your side.”
The trial has showcased evidence of how Holmes dazzled partners and investors with the expectation they would partake in — and reap the profits from — a revolution in health care, even as she knew her blood analyzers were a failed technology.
Witnesses have described deception on a staggering scale, summed up memorably by former Secretary of Defense James Mattis, the onetime Theranos board member and investor.
