If you thought the Theranos case was more than over, you were sorely mistaken. Two weeks before Elizabeth Holmes receives the sentence of the trial that took place almost a year ago, the founder of the blood analysis company with a single drop has tried to annul the process and make a new request. Namely, a new trial that gives him more time to avoid a more than certain sentence against him.
According to founder Elizabeth Holmes, this petition responds to the fact that one of the key witnesses who testified against her had remorse for what she had said before the judge. Also that she had doubts about the process that, in the words of the witness according to Holmes, had been misrepresented by the court. For days, he shrugged off grueling questions and cross-examinations.
The witness in question was Adam Rosendorff, former head of the Theranos lab. He was a key player in the trial against the founder of the Silicon Valley company, since during his years of work he was one of the dissonant voices in the decisions that Holmes’ management team made. Specifically, Rosendorff was one of those who wrote an email to the leadership to say that Theranos was not ready to do blood tests at Walgreens malls.
It was precisely on this question that Rosendorff was asked at the trial last fall. And for which the scientist is apparently sorry. And all despite the fact that Holmes’s defense charged hard against the scientist to discredit him. According to the team, Rosendorff had a history of working for failed companies and with bad legal records (uBiome Inc, another of his jobs, also ended in lawsuits). He was also identified as one of the sources for the investigation of the journalist who uncovered the Theranos scam, John Carreyrou. The same one that was later used by Apple for its series The Dropout on Disney+.
Despite everything and according to Billy Evans, husband of Elizabeth Holmes, the scientist showed up one morning last summer at the couple’s house. Disheveled and with his shirt wrongly buttoned. What at first was a refusal, in the end was an apology in which, apparently, Rosendorff admitted his opinion on the operability of the Theranos machines, but argued that the trial had been designed to expose all witnesses. And that, in the end, they ended up creating the perfect breeding ground to convict Holmes of fraud.
A single witness is not going to throw the sentence of Theranos to the ground
Conveniently, before sentencing, which is expected on September 26, Elizabeth Holmes’ legal team discussed the possibility of canceling the trial. One that is already clear will not be positive for the founder. With the certainty of a millionaire payment and going to jail, what remains to be known is how much the creator of Theranos will be charged.
“Under any interpretation of his statements, this warrants a new trial,” a lawyer for Holmes said in a filing collected by Bloomberg. The reality is that this happens quite often in fraud cases like the blood test company, and unsurprisingly, it doesn’t usually change the facts. Nor does it imply the celebration of the trial. One that in the case of Theranos lasted for weeks.
In any case, the decision is now in the hands of the judge, but the reality is that the volume of witnesses who spoke in Theranos case is broad enough for the judge to disregard Holmes’ request. Which has played, for years, with the times and development of the judicial process that it had to face. First delayed by a surprise pregnancy and then modified to present himself independently to Sunny Balwany, his initial partner, alleging a case of sexual harassment and extortion.