A federal judge in San Jose, Calif. has agreed to delay Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes’s trial until Aug. 31, according to media reports.
This is the fourth delay to Holmes’ trial — which has been continually delayed because of challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This time, the trial has been delayed another six weeks because Holmes is expecting a child in July. Her lawyers informed prosecutors in March.
Prosecutor Robert Leach described the situation as frustrating and disappointing during yesterday’s court hearing held over Zoom, according to reports published by CNBC and The Mercury News of San Jose.
Defense attorney Kevin Downey said Holmes is eager to defend herself during a trial but said medical advice did not recommend her starting a trial within six weeks of giving birth.
Holmes and her company Theranos once generated a great deal of buzz over claims that they were set to revolutionize blood testing with technology that could analyze tiny amounts of blood. Forbes in 2015 even recognized Holmes as America’s richest self-made woman based on Theranos’ multibillion-dollar valuation at the time.
Investigative reporting, though, eventually debunked the claims Holmes was making about Theranos’ technology. The downward spiral culminated in the 2018 shutdown of the company, with the SEC criminally charging Holmes and former Theranos president Sunny Balwani over what it described as a “massive fraud.”
Balwani’s trial is expected to follow the Holmes trial.