Convicted Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes was denied a new trial and will be sentenced in less than two weeks.
US District Judge Edward Davila ruled against her request Monday, finding that Holmes’ team had failed to introduce material new evidence or prove government misconduct that warranted a new trial.
Holmes was found guilty on four counts of fraud in January for deliberately misleading investors about the effectiveness of Theranos’ blood-testing machine and the overall financial health of its business. She is slated to be sentenced on Nov. 18 and faces up to 20 years in prison.
Holmes’ legal team had attempted to secure a new trial last month, asserting that former Theranos lab director Adam Rosendorff, a key witness in her fraud trial, had made a remorseful visit to her home after the conviction. The case took another twist after Holmes appeared pregnant with her second child while attending last month’s court hearing.
Holmes’ partner, Billy Evans, said in court filings that a distraught Rosendorff made an unannounced trip and told him “he tried to answer the questions honestly but that the prosecutors tried to make everyone look bad” during the trial.
When questioned about Evans’ assertion, Rosendorff admitted to making the visit but told the court that his testimony was accurate. The ex-Theranos lab official said he felt Holmes should “pay her debt to society” and claimed he was merely trying to get closure over his involvement in the situation.
“The court finds Dr. Rosendorff’s statements under oath to be credible,” Davila said in his ruling.
The judge also rejected other claims that Holmes’ lawyers cited as grounds for a new trial — including concerns about how prosecutors characterized her ex-lover and business partner Sunny Balwani during their closing statement in her original trial and a claim that the government withheld key evidence about Theranos’ blood-testing results.
The judge’s decision moved the legal saga one step closer to the conclusion of what has been a stunning downfall for Holmes. The 38-year-old was once declared the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire — leading Theranos to a $9 billion valuation while claiming it developed a proprietary device that could perform dozens of tests with just a few drops of a patient’s blood.
The medical testing startup imploded amid revelations that its devices were unreliable and could not perform the functions that Holmes claimed.
With Post wires