Elizabeth Holmes’s Theranos Trial: What You Need to Know

Few things person captured the public’s imaginativeness successful caller years similar the saga of Elizabeth Holmes, the laminitis of the defunct blood-testing institution Theranos.

The downfall of Holmes, a Stanford dropout and Silicon Valley darling, spawned not lone wall-to-wall quality coverage, but besides a documentary, a book, a podcast and adjacent a mini-series based connected that podcast. Her communicative offers thing for everyone: clueless bigwig investors, chaotic mendacious promises, black turtlenecks and — let’s beryllium existent — much than a tiny dose of schadenfreude.

This morning, the play is acceptable to proceed with opening statements successful Holmes’s proceedings successful national tribunal successful San Jose, my workfellow Erin Griffith reports. Holmes has pleaded not blameworthy and would look up to 20 years successful situation if convicted.

Here’s what you request to know:

So, punctual maine what happened?

Holmes started Theranos successful 2003, erstwhile she was 19. The institution was based successful Palo Alto and promised to revolutionize wellness attraction by detecting diseases utilizing a azygous driblet of humor from a digit prick. At 1 point, it was valued astatine $9 billion.

But Holmes’s empire came tumbling down aft a Wall Street Journal investigation successful 2015 raised questions astir whether Theranos’s exertion really worked. (It didn’t.)

In 2018, Theranos was dissolved. That aforesaid year, Holmes and Theranos’s erstwhile president, Ramesh Balwani, were indicted connected charges of defrauding investors retired of millions of dollars arsenic good arsenic deceiving hundreds of patients and doctors.

What is Holmes charged with?

Holmes has been charged with 12 counts of ligament fraud and conspiracy to perpetrate ligament fraud. She has been accused of knowing that Theranos humor tests were unreliable, of harming patients who relied connected them and of overstating the company’s concern deals and performance.

Who is connected the jury?

The assemblage consists of 7 men and 5 women who unrecorded successful Northern California. There are besides 5 alternates.

The radical was selected past week from a excavation of 200 imaginable jurors. As you tin imagine, uncovering radical who had ne'er heard of Theranos posed a challenge.

What bash we cognize astir Holmes’s defense?

Though Holmes and Balwani were indicted together, a justice past twelvemonth agreed to effort them separately, my colleagues Erin Griffith and Erin Woo report. Balwani’s proceedings volition statesman aboriginal adjacent year.

The determination to abstracted their cases allows the brace to blasted each different with nary quality for the different to respond, ineligible experts say.

Holmes’s lawyers person indicated that she is apt to reason that she was abused and controlled by Balwani, her concern spouse whom she besides dated. In sealed tribunal filings made nationalist past month, Holmes said her narration with Balwani had a “pattern of maltreatment and coercive control.”

Holmes’s lawyers could reason that she didn’t cognize astir the problems with Theranos’s blood-testing devices and was simply the start-up’s nationalist face, portion Balwani and others handled the technology.

As my colleagues wrote, “The cardinal question volition beryllium whether Ms. Holmes was a deceptive schemer driven by greed and power, oregon a naïf who believed her ain lies and was manipulated by Mr. Balwani.”

Who volition testify?

Patients who were wrongly diagnosed by Theranos tests are acceptable to attest against Holmes, including immoderate who had been told they were H.I.V. affirmative and a large pistillate who was told she had miscarried, reported NPR.

The imaginable witnesser database names Holmes herself arsenic good arsenic 200 others, including:

• John Carreyrou, a erstwhile Wall Street Journal newsman who broke the Theranos story

• Rupert Murdoch, a media mogul who invested successful the start-up

• David Boies, a erstwhile Theranos lawyer

• Henry Kissinger, a erstwhile caput of authorities who sat connected Theranos’s board

• Jim Mattis, a erstwhile defence caput who was besides connected Theranos’s board

Can I ticker a livestream of the trial?

As acold arsenic we know, the proceedings won’t beryllium streamed online. The assemblage volition beryllium constricted to radical successful the courthouse.

But The Times volition beryllium publishing regular updates and you tin travel on connected Twitter with Erin Griffith (@eringriffith) and Erin Woo (@erinkwoo), Times reporters who volition beryllium successful the courthouse implicit the adjacent respective weeks.

For more:

• Holmes is surviving connected the grounds of a $135 cardinal Silicon Valley property during the trial, CNBC reported connected Tuesday.

• Behind the spectacle of the proceedings is the world that transgression prosecutions successful Silicon Valley are rare. Read much from my workfellow David Streitfeld.

• Female entrepreneurs accidental they are perpetually and unfairly compared to Holmes. Read much from The Times connected Holmes’s agelong shadiness successful Silicon Valley.

The recall, T-minus six days

The predetermination to determine whether to callback Gov. Gavin Newsom is successful little than a week. I’ll beryllium keeping you updated with the latest successful the newsletter each day.

The remainder of the news

• Bidding wars successful Berkeley: The lodging marketplace has roared backmost to beingness crossed the nation, but obscurity other successful America bash homes merchantability for much implicit the listed terms than successful Berkeley, wherever 80 percent of homes merchantability supra the listed price. More from The Times.

• Possible powerfulness outages: Californians person been asked to trim their powerfulness usage contiguous betwixt 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. to debar rolling blackouts arsenic above-average temperatures endanger the state’s electrical grid, reports KTLA 5.

• Women successful office: Women marque up astir a 3rd of the State Legislature, which is simply a record, reports The Associated Press.

• Dixie fire: The occurrence that has burned much than 917,000 acres is good connected its mode to becoming the largest successful California history, reports CNN.

• Unemployment benefits end: About 2.2 cardinal Californians mislaid their unemployment security benefits implicit the weekend, reports CalMatters.

• Campaigning for Newsom: President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are headed to California to enactment Newsom’s effort to squash the recall, SFist reports.

• New Medi-Cal program: Over the adjacent 5 years, California volition walk $6 cardinal successful authorities and national wealth to effort to supply a slate of societal services to the neediest Medi-Cal beneficiaries, including information deposits and deliveries of fruits and vegetables, reports The Los Angeles Times.

• Reduced bail law: A caller combat is brewing successful the State Legislature implicit an alternate program that would slash the magnitude arrestees indispensable wage to get retired of jail, according to The Los Angeles Times.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

• Printer toner fraud: The authorities accidental Gilbert Michaels, of West Los Angeles, preyed connected tens of thousands of tiny businesses and charities by overcharging them for printer toner they didn’t need. On Friday, Michaels was sentenced successful U.S. District Court successful Orange County to 4 years successful national prison.

• Overdose deaths: Three radical died implicit the play successful Venice aft reportedly overdosing connected fentanyl-laced cocaine. Those killed included the section standup comics Fuquan Johnson and Enrico Colangeli, reported CBSLA.

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA

• Slow rollout of rental aid: Six months aft receiving $42 cardinal for an exigency rental assistance program, Fresno has distributed lone astir $9.5 cardinal to tenants and landlords, The Fresno Bee reports.

• Substitute shortage: School administrators successful Kern County accidental a shallow excavation of substitute teachers has made the instrumentality to classrooms a struggle, according to The Bakersfield Californian.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

• Caldor fire: The immense blaze adjacent the Lake Tahoe edifice portion was astir fractional contained connected Tuesday and leaders of the firefighting service battling it were progressively affirmative successful their outlook, The Associated Press reports. Plus, mandatory evacuation orders person been lifted for South Lake Tahoe, reports The Guardian.

• Reduced lunchtime: In Windsor successful Sonoma County, schoolhouse officials person taken an antithetic attack to reducing the fig of students who request to beryllium sent location due to the fact that of vulnerability to the coronavirus.

  Since students indispensable beryllium sent location if they are successful close, unmasked interaction with an infected idiosyncratic for 15 minutes oregon more, Windsor has reduced pupil luncheon breaks to 14 minutes, The Press Democrat reports.

• Main Street reopens: Pleasanton had closed disconnected Main Street to cars for astir 5 months successful effect to the Covid-19 pandemic, a determination that has benefited restaurants but not different businesses. On Tuesday, the thoroughfare reopened to conveyance postulation and brought mixed feelings, NBC Bay Area reports.

Where we’re traveling

The Times’s Travel conception recommends 36 hours successful Santa Barbara County, a spot that “could beryllium a commercialized for the California bully life.”

And earlier you go, immoderate bully news

Hundreds of swimmers dove into 65-degree h2o connected Monday during the yearly Oceanside Pier Swim, a Labor Day contented successful San Diego County.

The race, which was canceled past twelvemonth due to the fact that of the pandemic, drew astatine slightest 400 competitors, the astir successful its 92-year history, reports The San Diego Union-Tribune.

The archetypal idiosyncratic to implicit the one-mile people astir the Oceanside pier this twelvemonth was Miko Baron, 15.

“The h2o was a spot chilly,” Baron told the newspaper, arsenic she drip-dried successful a yellowish bathing suit. “I deliberation that made maine spell faster due to the fact that I wanted to get retired of the h2o quickly.”

Thanks for reading. I’ll beryllium backmost tomorrow. — Soumya

P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Word aft second, Sunday oregon Seattle’s (4 letters).

Steven Moity and Briana Scalia contributed to California Today. You tin scope the squad astatine CAtoday@nytimes.com.

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