The jury weighing fraud charges against former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes left the court Tuesday without reaching a verdict after a fifth day of deliberations. Holmes is facing 11 criminal charges alleging that she duped investors and patients by hailing her company’s blood-testing technology as a medical breakthrough when in fact it was prone to wild errors.
The eight men and four women on the jury have been meeting in a San Jose, California, federal courthouse after absorbing reams of evidence in a three-month trial that captivated Silicon Valley.
The jurors are scheduled to resume their discussions Wednesday morning.
Last week, the jury sent out two notes to U.S. District Judge Edward Davila — one making a swiftly rejected request to take their instructions home with them for further study and another that that allowed them a replay of a 2013 recording of Holmes discussing Theranos’ dealings with prospective investors.
For the second consecutive day this week, the jurors went through Tuesday’s session without providing any clues as to how far long they are in their deliberations.
The case has attracted worldwide attention. At its core is the rise and fall of Holmes, who started Theranos as a 19-year-old college dropout and then went on to break through Silicon Valley’s male-dominated culture with her bold claims and fundraising savvy. She become a billionaire on paper before it all evaporated amid allegations she was more of a charlatan than an entrepreneur.
MICHAEL LIEDTKE | Contributed
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