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Elizabeth Holmes, the founder and former CEO of blood testing and life sciences firm Theranos, arrives for the primary day of jury choice in her fraud trial, exterior Federal Court docket in San Jose, California on August 31, 2021.
Nick Otto | AFP | Getty Photographs
SAN JOSE, CALIF. – A jury of seven males and 5 ladies will resolve the destiny of Theranos founder and ex-CEO Elizabeth Holmes.
The 12-person panel from Santa Clara County, the place Theranos was primarily based, was chosen after two days of intense questioning concerning their data of the failed blood-testing firm. If convicted, Holmes might face 20 years in jail
Prosecutors and protection attorneys settled on a various set of jurors on the subject of race, gender and age. Together with 5 alternates — two males and three ladies — the jurors had been sworn in Thursday morning on the San Jose federal courthouse. Opening statements are set to start on Wednesday.
Holmes, who was a paper billionaire primarily based on her stake in Theranos, faces a dozen counts of wire fraud and conspiracy costs for allegedly defrauding traders and sufferers about her firm’s know-how. She has pleaded not responsible and denies any wrongdoing.
Holmes dropped out of Stanford in 2003 to start out Theranos at age 19. She raised billions of {dollars} from traders equivalent to media mogul Rupert Murdoch, former Training Secretary Betsy DeVos and the Walton household. Some traders are anticipated to testify on the trial.
The corporate’s downfall started in 2015, when former Wall Road Journal reporter John Carreyrou printed a sequence of damning articles exposing Theranos’ doubtful enterprise practices and know-how limitations.
All through jury questioning, U.S. District Court docket Choose Edward Davila, who’s presiding over the trial, reminded potential jurors in regards to the significance of avoiding media, a specific problem for a case that is attracted heavy protection in Silicon Valley and around the globe.
One juror, an older white man, stated “oh boy” after his identify was referred to as out to hitch the jury field.
“Let’s be clear, they know the media is on this case,” Davila instructed the courtroom on Wednesday. He repeatedly instructed the jurors to “flip off these information feeds.”
The 2 days of jury choice had been tense and dramatic at instances with dozens of potential jurors admitting they’d prior data of Holmes and Theranos. Some even expressed their disappointment in studying of Holmes’ spectacular fall from grace.
“There’s not that many ladies that get to turn into CEO of a high-powered firm,” one potential feminine juror, who had learn Carreyrou’s ebook, “Dangerous Blood,” instructed Davila on Tuesday.
One other potential male juror stated he adopted Theranos throughout its rise and admitted he “was upset as a result of I believed the corporate was so cool.”
A few of these questioned even grew to become emotional whereas sharing harrowing experiences of home violence. That was after newly unsealed paperwork revealed Holmes’ plans to have an skilled testify that Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, her ex-boyfriend and former COO of Theranos, subjected her to intimate companion abuse.
Balwani denies the allegations. He will probably be tried individually for his function within the Theranos scandal.
WATCH: End result of trial will hinge on Holmes protection as boyfriend’s puppet
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