Jurors in the Elizabeth Holmes trial may take next week off

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The jurors liable for assessing 11 charges of fraud and conspiracy against erstwhile Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes are scheduled to statesman their 3rd time of deliberations connected Thursday.

If they haven't reached a verdict by the extremity of the day, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila and the attorneys for some sides volition sermon the anticipation of taking a interruption until Jan. 3. The assemblage had primitively signaled that it was consenting to deliberate during the week betwixt Christmas and New Year’s Day.

On Tuesday aft astir 13 hours of deliberation, the jurors asked U.S. District Judge Edward Davila whether they could instrumentality location the 39-page papers spelling retired their ineligible instructions to survey it much carefully.

The request, submitted conscionable up of a antecedently scheduled one-day interruption successful their deliberations, was swiftly rejected connected the grounds that each assemblage deliberations are expected to hap wrong an isolated country successful the San Jose, California, courthouse wherever the proceedings was held.

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The assemblage is charged with deciding whether Holmes turned her blood-testing startup into a monolithic scam. If convicted connected each counts, Holmes, 37, could look up to 20 years successful prison.

The proceedings revolves astir allegations that Holmes duped investors, concern partners and patients astir Theranos' technology. She repeatedly claimed that the company's caller investigating instrumentality could scan for hundreds of diseases and different problems with a fewer drops of humor taken with a digit prick alternatively of a needle stuck successful a vein.

The conception was truthful compelling that Theranos and Holmes raised much than $900 million, immoderate of that from billionaire investors specified arsenic media magnate Rupert Murdoch and bundle titan Larry Ellison. The Palo Alto, California, institution besides negotiated perchance lucrative deals with large retailers Walgreens and Safeway. Holmes soon began to grace nationalist mag covers arsenic a wunderkind.

Unknown to astir radical extracurricular Theranos, the company’s blood-testing exertion was flawed, often producing inaccurate results that could person endangered the lives of patients who took the tests.

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After the flaws were exposed successful 2015 and 2016, Theranos yet collapsed. The Justice Department filed its transgression lawsuit successful 2018.

In a melodramatic crook connected the witnesser basal past month, Holmes testified that her erstwhile person and concern spouse Sunny Balwani had been covertly controlling her diet, her friendships and much portion subjecting her to mental, affectional and intersexual abuse.

Although the grounds formed Holmes arsenic Balwani's pawn, her defence squad did not notation the alleged maltreatment and its effects connected Holmes during closing arguments.

Balwani’s lawyer adamantly denied Holmes’ accusations successful tribunal documents that the assemblage ne'er saw. Jurors besides ne'er heard from Balwani, who intended to invoke his Fifth Amendment close against self-incrimination if helium had been called to testify. Balwani, 56, faces akin fraud charges successful a abstracted proceedings scheduled to statesman successful February.

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That leaves the assemblage to determine whether the alleged spouse maltreatment whitethorn person affected Holmes' decisions astatine Theranos.

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