Why Elizabeth Holmes may face a difficult trial due to pandemic
The long-anticipated criminal trail for Elizabeth Holmes is slated to go forward in a style as unconventional as the embattled founder of the now-defunct blood-testing startup Theranos. Yahoo Finance's Alexis Keenan weighs in.
Video Transcript
ZACK GUZMAN: Despite the pandemic we're seeing here in 2020, the trial for Elizabeth Homes, the founder of now defunct blood-testing startup Theranos is going to proceed despite some strange, I guess, implementations to make things still happen here due to social distancing and face masks required as well. Our own Alexis Keenan has been covering what kinds of things have had to be put in place to get that trial to proceed here, and she joins us now with the latest on that. And, Alexis, I mean, these things have to happen to get the trial to proceed.
ALEXIS KEENAN: They kind of have to happen. This trial has been delayed a couple of times already, Zack. And if you remember-- I'll just take you back. The first indictment against Elizabeth Homes-- remember, she raised nearly a billion dollars for her blood-diagnostics company that was set to be the next greatest thing, next leap forward in health care, certainly something that a lot of people would need right about now with COVID under way.
But the Justice Department filed its original indictment back in June of 2018, and this jury is supposed to be impaneled beginning on March 8. So the trial should start shortly thereafter. Yesterday, the judge in the Northern District of California federal court there held a hearing to kind of get this trial under way and get things kind of put in place.
Now, the district court was held by videoconference yesterday. Holmes was in attendance along with her attorneys and along with federal prosecutors, but this was unlike any status hearing that I've ever attended, either as a journalist or as a lawyer. And that's because there are a lot of special accommodations that need to be made in order for this very high-profile trial to happen, actually to pull it off. The judge talked about things like just what you would guess, the social distancing that has to happen inside the courtroom. There will be 14 jurors, and they will have to be spaced out at least six feet apart.
And also there's going to have to be alternate jurors, more than usual. Usually there's about two or three. This time the judge said, no, we're going to do more than that because, look, people could fall ill, which is another problem. If there are principal parties that are required for this litigation to go forward, they are going to have to stop down if somebody is ill and needs to be, for example, quarantined.
Also, the judge talked about clear face masks for witnesses so that they can be heard and also their lips seen. Really important in a trial. And, you know, just emotion is really important in a trial to see how witnesses are behaving and the reactions to their questions. Also, though, unresolved is what exactly is going to happen for these participants who might fall ill.
The trial is expected to take at least five months. I would say that's a really, really aggressive timeline given the hurdles that all of these parties are going to have to overcome. And let's remember too that Elizabeth Holmes has pled not guilty to charges for wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud through Theranos. Those are charges that carry up to 20 years in federal prison.
AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah, the downfall of Theranos very well documented. There's going to be a lot of interest in this one, Alexis, and I know you're going to be following that one closely. Thanks so much for that.
ALEXIS KEENAN: I will.
