SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Nov 4 – The Elizabeth
Holmes / Theranos trial has
much to recommend it. Mad Dog
Mattis spinning, and many
podcasts covering it weekly.
And now, a juror admitting
playing Sudoku during the
endless examination - and
dismissed, leaving only two
alternates.
It is
reminiscent of trials in the
U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York,
such as the US v. Neil Cole
trial, recently concluded in a
mistrial, where jurors
struggled to stay awake as
email after spread sheet were
posted on their screens.
There is
another echo, or connector.
While SDNY heats up for
"Maximum Maxwell" - the trial
of Ghislaine Maxwell on sex
trafficking charges - lawyer
David Boies is in the mix,
representing victims on
conference calls about if not
with Prince Andrew.
Previously, he'd been name
checked but not cross examined
in the case against Michael
Avenatti, representing Nike.
But
promoting Theranos' dubious
technology and stock, and
threatening those who
investigated it, is a
differently look. Now on
November 3 in the Elizabeth
Holmes trial, a previously
Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP
partner has testified that he
invested $6 million into the
company after Boies assured
him the technology was
"absolutely sound and
performing well." What, with
third party Siemens machines
secretly used? West meets
East.
On
September 30 journalist John
Carreyrou of the WSJ filed a
motion trying to get off
Holmes' witness list, or for
an exemption so he can
nevertheless enter the
courtroom. Alongside those
legal issues, there's this
from the motion returnable
October 18:
"The Supreme
Court has long recognized that
the press and public enjoy a
First Amendment “right
of access to criminal trials.”
Globe Newspaper Co., 457 U.S.
at 604-05 (emphasis
removed). Steeped in
Anglo-American jurisprudence
is the principle that
“throughout its evolution, the
trial has been open to
all who cared to observe,” as
criminal trials are
“presumptively open.”
Richmond Newspapers,
Inc. v. Virginia, 448 U.S.
555, 564, 575 (1980). Indeed,
a trial courtroom is “a
public place where the
people generally – and
representatives of the media –
have a right to be
present.” Id. at 578. 8
Carreyrou does not suggest
that the Court has entirely
shut down or closed the trial
in this action. Far from
it; the Court has made efforts
to ensure general access. But,
unless he is exempted,
Carreyrou will be the only
member of the news media
especially barred from
attending the trial and
reporting firsthand on its
proceedings."
For Inner City
Press, the only media banned
from the United Nations and
for 1319 days now, it also
stands in contrast to the
recent R.Kelly trial in EDNY
in Brooklyn, where ALL media
and public were banned from
the courtroom, which (as Judge
Davila has for some reason
done in US v. Holmes) no
listen-only call in line.
The sudden
lack of call-in lines is being
repeated in US v. Maxwell;
Inner City Press questioned
and opposed it in an October
29 filing
that has yet, as of November
3, to be docketed.
New
coverage of the Holmes trial,
for example by The Dropout,
belatedly details Juror 5
being bounced for playing
Sudoku during testimony.
The trial
coverage can also again be
compared, at SDNY, with the
lower profile fraud trial of
Neil Cole of Iconix for
inflating earnings and selling
$28 million of stock (Inner
City Press song here),
and Lev Parnas (song here,
and sidearm
threat podcast, and
Substack on racist
video-gate). It
deserves it own song, like
this one (October 31) on
Maxwell to the Max:
Carreyrou is
back, on Theranos' use of
Siemens machines. We'll have
more on these issues.
***
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