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A 12-member jury of residents of Santa Clara County, California, and five alternates were selected on Thursday. Elizabeth Holmes’ fraud case, the infamous founder of blood testing startup Theranos, which will launch next week.
Judge Edward Davila of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, federal prosecutors, and Ms. Holmes’ defense attorneys questioned nearly 100 potential jurors based on their responses to a 28-page survey that covered topics, including the news sources they had read. whether they knew possible witnesses and whether they had adverse medical experiences.
The jury will decide the fate of Ms. Holmes, who battled 12 scams and conspiracies to commit electronic fraud over Theranos’ false claims about her blood tests and business. Her trial is one of Silicon Valley’s premier fraud cases, and the public’s admiration for Ms. Holmes spawned documentaries, a book, and a mini-series. starring Amanda Seyfried.
Finding jurors who have never heard of Theranos, crashed in 2018 After reports that the blood test technology was not working as advertised, it was a challenge.
One potential juror said she fell into a “YouTube rabbit hole” of videos about Ms. Holmes. Another said he saw a social media meme about Mrs. Holmes’ voice – it turned out that Ms. Holmes sometimes had her voice deepened – something that has added to the interest in her personality cult and decline.
Timing was another matter. The trial is scheduled to last 13 weeks or longer. Some jurors have been dismissed because they have upcoming surgeries or long-awaited vacations. Others were exempted because they were teachers with no one to replace them.
Domestic abuse was an important topic of discussion. Ms. Holmes’ lawyers stated that she could also claim that she was harassed and controlled by her partner, Ramesh Balwani, known as Sunny. Mr. Balwani is also facing fraud charges. When Judge Davila asked Wednesday whether any jurors had experienced domestic violence, roughly half raised their hands and shared stories they said could change their views on the evidence and testimony.
Another potential juror worked on a whistleblower program for law enforcement. Theranos was ousted in part by two young employees who reported problems with the company’s testing to government agencies and the press. Yet another prospective juror was dismissed due to bias as his mother-in-law went to jail for embezzlement.
On Wednesday, the prosecution argued that five of the potential jurors that Ms. Holmes’ lawyers had proposed to dismiss because of difficulties were people of color. Ms. Holmes’ lawyers denied any racial profiling of the jurors.
On Thursday, lawyers for both sides agreed on a jury within an hour and gave a list of juries between them.
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