(Bloomberg) — The judge in Elizabeth Holmes’s trial has asked jurors to deliver their verdict on eight of the 11 charges she’s facing, after they said they were unable to reach a unanimous decision on all of the counts.
Hours after telling U.S. District Judge Edward Davila that they were struggling to reach consensus on three counts, the jurors sent a second note to court Monday saying they were unable to reach a verdict on all 11 charges. The judge called the jurors back into the courtroom and asked their spokesman if there was no possibility of a full verdict. Davila asked for any juror to raise a hand if they thought there was a reasonable probability of a verdict on all charges if they were sent back for further deliberations, and no one did.
The judge asked them to return to their room and fill out the verdict sheet.
The prospect of a partial verdict comes on the seventh full day of deliberations by the jury, which heard evidence from dozens of witnesses over the three-month trial. Jurors had been told by the judge earlier on Monday that they should continue deliberating, after first raising the prospect they would be deadlocked on three of the charges.
The panel of eight men and four women must decide whether Holmes, 37, is guilty of fraud and conspiracy charges filed in 2018, the same year that her blood-testing startup collapsed after previously reaching a valuation of $9 billion. Holmes is facing a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted.
It’s not clear which counts the jury is unable to reach agreement on, but a unanimous verdict is required for either conviction or acquittal on each count. Holmes is charged with defrauding Theranos investors and patients.
(Updates with potential verdict announcement)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
