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Disgraced Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Accused Of Trying To Wrangle 'Jurors That Fit A Certain Profile She Considers Favorable'

June 8 2021, Published 10:45 a.m. ET

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Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is being accused of trying to secure a jury that's biased in her favor after her defense team proposed that potential jurors fill out a 41-page questionnaire containing 112 questions about topics like employment, language fluency, marital status and more.

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While they acknowledged that their version was "lengthy," Holmes' attorneys tried to convince Judge Edward Davila – who is presiding over her case in San Jose U.S. District Court – that many of the questions in their proposed jury-screening form were routine, adding that "the substantial media coverage of the matter and the continuing COVID-19 pandemic" required "special inquiry."

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Responding with a letter filed in court last week, prosecutors argued that the unusually long proposal "does more to potentially bias the jury in her favor than to aid in selecting a fair and impartial jury representing a cross-section of the local public."

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They believe many of the questions posed in Holmes' proposed document – including queries about personal investments, health insurance and social media use – are "untethered" from the coronavirus pandemic and any pretrial publicity.

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The list of questions, they say, "appears designed … to isolate jurors that fit a certain profile she considers favorable."

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elizabeth holmes theranos accused favorable jurors certain profile questionnaire theranos r
Source: MEGA
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"Tellingly," they added, "the two main rationales (Holmes) asserts for justifying such an excessive questionnaire – pretrial publicity and COVID-19 – relate to approximately 14 out of 112 questions."

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At eight months pregnant, Holmes is facing a dozen counts of felony fraud charges in connection with the health-technology startup she founded in 2003. Former Theranos president Sunny Balwani has also been charged and will be tried separately.

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Holmes and Balwani are accused of deceiving investors, doctors and patients with Theranos' blood-testing technology, which was said to be able to test for a variety of health conditions by using just a few drops of blood extracted from a finger prick. Holmes and Balwani are alleged to have known that the technology had accuracy and reliability problems.

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They have both denied the claims.

At the height of its success, Theranos was valued at $9 billion, which made Holmes the world's youngest self-made woman billionaire. However, by 2018, the fraudulent company collapsed, and Holmes was named one of the "World's Most Disappointing Leaders" by Fortune.

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