Ms. Holmes capped the proceedings by taking the stand. Over seven days of testimony, she alternated between accepting responsibility for certain missteps and deflecting blame for other problems to colleagues.
She said she believed that Theranos’s tests worked and had relied on the expertise of more qualified people running the company’s lab. And she used her charisma to sell jurors on the same vision of the future that, years earlier, had helped her win over investors, world leaders and the press.
“I wanted to talk about what this company could do a year from now, five years from now, 10 years from now,” Ms. Holmes said. “I wanted to talk about what was possible.”
Ms. Holmes’s argument that her optimistic projections were no different than that of other Silicon Valley companies contradicted the government’s evidence, which was consistent with traditional fraud cases, Ms. Roth said.
“If other founders and executives are engaged in the kinds of deceit that was alleged and proven by considerable evidence in this case, then they should be concerned,” she said.
Most strikingly, Ms. Holmes accused Mr. Balwani of emotional and sexual abuse. The pair dated in secret for more than decade, even owning an estate in Atherton, Calif., together. Ms. Holmes said Mr. Balwani, who is around 20 years older than her, controlled every aspect of her life, including her schedule, self-presentation and time spent with her family. She also accused him of forcing her to have sex with him. Mr. Balwani has denied the allegations.
That testimony, delivered through tears, threatened to turn the tide against the prosecutor’s case by appealing to the jury’s emotions and painting Ms. Holmes as a victim. But it was a risky strategy, experts have said, particularly since Ms. Holmes did not provide an expert witness to put her accusations in context of the wire fraud charges.
Mr. Balwani, known as Sunny, will stand trial next year. He has also pleaded not guilty.
