Elizabeth Holmes' retrial request jeopardized as key witness Adam Rosendorff backs original testimony
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA: Elizabeth Holmes appeared in federal court on September 1, in an attempt to overturn her fraud conviction. She is facing jail time after being convicted of four counts of fraud for allegedly engaging in a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud investors in her company, Theranos. A crucial witness in the case has reiterated his initial testimony, jeopardizing Holmes' request for a new trial.
Holmes stated that former Theranos lab director, Adam Rosendorff, who is a key witness in this case, had visited her home on August 8 and told her partner, Billy Evans, that prosecutors had twisted his testimony to “make everyone look bad.” In September, she had put in a request for a new trial.
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In an email exchange, Evans described the incident to Holmes' attorneys, who later contended before US District Judge, Edward Davila, in San Jose, California, that the prosecution was allegedly dishonest, reported Associated Press. For the new trial request, the defense had mainly leaned on Rosendorff's unannounced visit to her home. However, when asked on Monday, October 17, about his original testimony in federal court, Rosendorff said, "Yes, at all times I testified truthfully and honestly to the best of my recollection."
According to Rosendorff, he visited Holmes' home in Silicon Valley after discovering that she was pregnant with her second child and because he was "increasingly distressed" about the prospect of her children having to spend the early years of their lives apart from their mother. According to AP, Holmes' pregnancy has not been officially confirmed. He added, "The government was trying to get to the truth of what happened- what Elizabeth Holmes did. I don’t want to help Ms Holmes. The only person that can help her is herself. She needs to pay her debt to society."
Rosendorff, a key witness for the government, took the stand on Day 5 of Holmes' trial. He had testified that he quit the company due to the fact that the blood-testing technology just didn’t work. He spoke in court about his struggles to convince Theranos management, including Holmes, to address his concerns about the lab's inaccuracy problems. "There was tremendous pressure at the company to show that this technology was successful," Rosendorff said during redirect examination. "It came from the top and permeated through R&D."
Holmes is being prosecuted on 12 counts of criminal fraud in connection to allegedly defrauding investors of hundreds of millions of dollars, and deceiving patients and physicians. She has entered a not guilty plea and claimed to have done nothing wrong. She is scheduled to be sentenced in October.