Holmes new trial date set for late August

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is now scheduled to go to trial in federal court on a dozen felony fraud counts Aug. 31, after the judge imposed a sevenweek delay because she’s pregnant.

Her trial had previously been set to start July 13. But last week, Holmes’ lawyers and prosecutors in a joint filing told Judge Edward Davila that she was expecting to give birth in July. The prosecution and defense had agreed to the delay, but in a San Jose U.S. District Court videoconference hearing Wednesday, federal prosecutor Robert Leach said it was “frustrating” and “disappointing” to have learned so late in Holmes’ pregnancy — on March 2 — that she was with child.

A lawyer for Holmes, Kevin Downey, said putting Holmes on trial less than six weeks after delivering a child was, according to medical advice, “not recommended.”

Holmes, 37, faces maximum penalties of 20 years in prison and a $2.75 million fine, plus possible restitution, the Department of Justice has said. She is reportedly married to hotel heir Billy Evans.

Prosecutors allege that Holmes, a Stanford University dropout who founded Theranos in 2003, bilked investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars, and defrauded doctors and patients with false claims that the company’s machines could conduct a full range of tests using just a few drops of blood. She and her co-accused Sunny Balwani have denied the claims.

Davila on Wednesday said the court wished Holmes well, however he emphasized that he wanted the trial, already postponed three times over procedural matters and because of the coronavirus pandemic, to go ahead without further delays.