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Elizabeth Holmes’ attorneys involved about discovering unbiased jurors

Elizabeth Holmes' attorneys concerned about finding unbiased jurors

Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes (center) and her lawyer are leaving the court on June 15, 2021. Holmes is due to stand trial later this year on wire fraud and other charges.

CNBC

Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes was given permission to breastfeed her newborn on Tuesday during the pauses in her upcoming fraud trial. Judge Edward Davila said there will be a designated “rest room” for Holmes to look after their child, who is due to be born next month.

Holmes is charged with wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy related to her now-defunct healthcare tech start-up Theranos. She pleaded not guilty.

The Holmes trial, which has been postponed several times due to the Covid-19 pandemic and her pregnancy, will be one of the most well-known criminal fraud cases in Silicon Valley history.

The children’s shelter for Holmes came when the judge reduced their proposed 45-page jury form with 112 questions to a 20-page draft.

Kevin Downey, a Holmes attorney, objected to the judge’s simplified questionnaire, saying, “If the jury has a bias, they can’t decide that. We can’t allow the jury to assess their own bias without basic questions cure that. “

Three hundred potential jurors from Northern California will be asked to fill out a questionnaire on August 19th and 20th. The personal jury selection and voir dire (jury survey) will take place on August 31st.

The Holmes questionnaire asks potential jurors how often they read, see, or hear certain journalists and news outlets, including CNBC.

“I know the defense is primarily concerned with media coverage,” said Davila. “You are suggesting that it was derogatory to Miss Holmes and that we must do something to secure a fair jury for her – and that is what I am trying to do.”

Suggested that we put the more difficult questions first, Davila added, “There’s a concept of questionnaire fatigue. At some point, there is less questionnaire return and it actually becomes less accurate the longer it takes.”

Davila said he would not allow any prospective judges to be questioned in detail, but assured the legal teams, “If we bring the jury in on both sides, they may be surprised, perhaps delighted, that many of them won’t know about this case.” . That is a reality of life. “

Prosecutors have described Holmes’ proposed questionnaire as “unnecessarily profoundly intrusive”.

“If anyone reads any of the 46 publications or networks that the defense is trying to identify, it doesn’t tell us anything about what they know about Theranos,” said Kelly Volkar, US assistant attorney. “Even once you’ve read a story, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you kept it or retained any kind of bias or prejudice about that one article.”

When Holmes entered the courthouse, she refused to answer questions from CNBC.

The two legal teams will review the judge’s questionnaire and he will make a final decision in the coming weeks.

Danny Cevallos, a legal analyst for NBC News, said it would be difficult to find an impartial jury to hear about the case, but claims to be impartial, “This juror could be a stealth juror – someone who’s one Has an ax to grind, but hides it to get into the jury. “

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Health

Elizabeth Holmes reappears in courtroom as attorneys spar

Elizabeth Holmes reappears in court as attorneys spar

Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes ahead of a hearing in her criminal trial on May 4, 2021.

CNBC

A pregnant Elizabeth Holmes appeared in court for the first time in 15 months for three days to pave the way for her fraud trial.

At Tuesday’s session in the San Jose Federal Court, Judge Edward Davila only allowed Holmes, her defense lawyers, and the prosecution inside. When Holmes entered the courthouse, she refused to answer questions from CNBC’s Scott Cohn.

At the more than seven-hour hearing, both sides discussed critical motions that determine what evidence the jury will hear, including how the Silicon Valley culture may have influenced Holmes’ behavior as CEO of Theranos. The company closed in 2018 after an investigation by the Wall Street Journal uncovered unproven technology and dubious business practices.

“There is an exaggeration in Silicon Valley. There will be a natural discussion about startups and how they work,” said Davila. He ruled that the defense cannot find them unfairly singled out.

Prosecutors warned the judge not to give Holmes too much space to argue that her actions are no different from those of other startups.

“I would like to warn against what the defense paints with a very broad brush when they say trade secret practices at Theranos,” said Jeff Schenk, a US assistant attorney.

A court sketch of the court appearance of former Theranos managing director Elizabeth Holmes on May 4, 2021.

Vicki Behringer licensed to CNBC

Holmes attorneys say prosecutors built a comprehensive case on anecdotal evidence. Theranos technology performed between seven and ten million tests over two years. Amy Saharia, a Holmes attorney, said the trial will be “a vast jumble of irrelevant, adverse evidence.”

She added, “We have all become very familiar with testing this year. Testing involves many different variables. What the government is offering is scientifically unrelated, finding that Theranos technology was responsible for erroneous results. Just because it happened doesn’t mean it was because of Theranos technology. “

The subjects were just a few of the more than two dozen motions the judge is expected to rule on this week.

One is a motion from Holmes to block evidence of her wealth, spending, and lifestyle from the jury. Prosecutors allege Holmes’ “desire to retain her wealth and status created a powerful motive” to continue and hide her fraud. Holmes was once considered the youngest billionaire with an estimated net worth of $ 4.5 billion.

A former Theranos executive close to Holmes told CNBC, “I don’t think Elizabeth believed that there was daylight between her and the company. She saw herself as a company.” This person asked not to be named for fear of jeopardizing future employment opportunities.

Holmes, once a media treasure who made the rounds of television and magazines, has remained a mom since being charged with nine wire fraud cases and two wire fraud conspiracy cases. The former executive told CNBC that she was “an inherently optimistic person”.

“There was such a mythology around her. And I think to some extent she recognized and accepted that.”

“Everyone who’s been paying attention has only heard really negative things about her,” said Danny Cevallos, a legal analyst with NBC News. “Your disgrace was spectacular. There will be plenty of jurors who have probably heard of Holmes, and it’s probably not good.”

The selection of the jury begins on August 31st.

“It has its core [of] Supporters, a small but supporter who, until the day she died, said she was unfairly portrayed and abused, “said the former Theranos manager.

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Business

Republican Attorneys Common Press Biden Over Restrictions on State Support in Stimulus Plan

Republican Attorneys General Press Biden Over Restrictions on State Aid in Stimulus Plan

WASHINGTON – Twenty-one Republican attorneys general urged the Biden administration Tuesday to clarify a provision of the $ 1.9 trillion economic aid package the president signed last week, warning that its restrictions on state tax cut efforts were “the biggest Attempt could be invasion of state sovereignty by Congress in the history of our republic. “

The seven-page letter was signed by a number of Republican officials, including the Attorney General of Texas, Arizona, Georgia, and Utah. They challenge a restriction lawmakers put in a $ 350 billion relief effort to state, local, and tribal governments that prevents them from using federal funds to “either directly or indirectly reduce net tax revenues to offset as a result of taxes ”cuts. These governments have lost revenue and laid off more than a million public employees during the coronavirus pandemic.

The law requires repayment to the federal government of funds that violate these terms.

In her letter, Republican officials asked Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen to clarify how broadly her department would interpret this part of the law. Will states simply forbid states to use the federal dollar to offset new tax cuts, or instead prohibit them from lowering taxes for any reason, even if those cuts were in the works before the law was passed? The officials said the broader restriction was harmful and most likely unconstitutional.

“That language could be read to deny states the ability to reduce taxes in any way – even if they had granted such tax relief with or without the prospect of Covid-19 relief funds,” the attorney general wrote. “Without a more sensible interpretation by your department, this provision would mean an unprecedented and unconstitutional encroachment on the separate sovereignty of states by usurping essentially half of the state’s tax books” – their ability to generate revenue.

Oklahoma, for example, has already passed an income tax cut through its House of Representatives, including an increase in the state’s tax credit to help low-income workers, Mike Hunter, the state’s attorney general, said in a statement Tuesday. “But,” he warned, “the federal incentive law could prohibit Oklahoma from providing this economic relief without losing its share of federal funding.”

A White House spokesman declined to comment on the letter Tuesday evening. A finance spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.

Republican lawmakers in Washington and across the country previously raised concerns about the provision.

“We wanted to give – to cut sales tax on used cars, that is, low and middle income,” said Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program on Sunday. “And now we’re worried whether this will be banned under this bill. The language seems to suggest that it is so. “