This lawsuit is about what could be Silicon Valley’s biggest scam. And after seven days of deliberation, his verdict remains pending. The twelve jurors – eight men and four women – of the federal court in San José, Calif., Must determine whether Elizabeth Holmes, 37, is guilty of fraud or if she sincerely believed that she would revolutionize the blood diagnostics market with her company Theranos. She faces decades in prison.
On Monday, January 3, they told the judge that they could not reach a unanimous agreement on three of the eleven charges against the fallen icon of Silicon Valley, without stating their decision on the eight. others. Federal Judge Edward Davila told jurors to continue deliberating on the charges against them, saying there is no rush.
If, despite further discussions, the jurors still cannot reach an agreement, the judge has the option of accepting the verdicts on which a decision has been reached, and declaring the annulment of the trial for the other counts. charge. It would then be up to prosecutors to decide whether or not to request a new trial for these outstanding charges.
More than three months of testimonials
Jurors began deliberating at the end of the day on December 17, after hearing testimony for more than three months during the trial in San José, in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Mme Holmes founded Theranos in 2003, at the age of 19. It promised to produce diagnostic tools faster and cheaper than those in traditional laboratories. Having become a billionaire at the age of 30, she symbolized in many ways the entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley, between dropping out of her studies at the age of 19 at the prestigious Stanford University and her taste for black turtleneck sweaters, the emblematic garment of the legendary Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
But his devices, which must have been revolutionary, did not work. The prosecutor accused her of having chosen “Fraud rather than bankruptcy”. M’s lawyerme Holmes, on the contrary, asserted that she believed in good faith in his invention. The case raises the question of how far start-ups can embellish their activities as they mature.
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