Though indicted together, Holmes and Balwani faced separate trials after Holmes alleged that Balwani—her former business partner and romantic partner—had subjected her to years of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. Their trials stretched across 2021 and 2022, culminating in convictions on multiple fraud charges. Holmes was convicted on four counts of defrauding investors, while Balwani was convicted on all 12 counts against him.
Failed Appeals and Harmless Errors
In their appeals, Holmes and Balwani argued that Judge Davila had committed evidentiary errors that unfairly influenced the jury. Holmes’ attorney, Amy Mason Saharia, contended that the court’s directed verdict form obscured which investor misrepresentations the jury relied on. Meanwhile, Balwani’s legal team, led by Jeffrey B. Coopersmith, argued that the government had unfairly altered its indictment to include claims about conventional third-party blood-testing devices.
The Ninth Circuit rejected these claims, concluding that any errors in evidentiary rulings did not alter the trial’s outcome. Notably, the panel scrutinized testimony from Dr. Kingshuk Das, a former Theranos lab director, who was allowed to provide expert-like testimony without a pretrial Daubert hearing. The court agreed that Das’ insights were “highly specialized knowledge,” but ruled that his testimony was ultimately nonessential to the case’s core fraud allegations.
Government’s Case Against Holmes and Balwani Holds Firm
The appellate judges found that prosecutors presented substantial evidence proving Holmes and Balwani had misled investors about Theranos’ financial health, its reliance on third-party testing devices, and its purported partnerships with Walgreens, the military, and major pharmaceutical companies.
