SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Nov 19 – The Elizabeth
Holmes / Theranos trial has
much to recommend it -
including on November 19 the
defendant taking the stand.
There was Mad Dog Mattis
spinning, and many podcasts
covering it weekly. But what
now?
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. Lev
Parnas did not testify, and
was convicted, unlike Kyle
Rittenhouse who did testify
and cry.
So is there any
chance at all that Ghislaine
Maxwell might testify?
Here's from what
Holmes said on November 19: "I
started with
talking to my
parents and
they let me
take the money
they saved for
me to go to
college. Then
I went to go
borrow
money... Don
Lucas was one
of the early
VCs in Silicon
Valley. I knew
him as someone
who focused on
building great
companies in
the long term.
I was
introduced to
him by someone
who had gone
to college
with my dad.
He had a lot
of questions.
He began a
very
comprehensive
diligence
process. He
hired a law
firm to review
our patents.
He asked us to
get an audit
of our
financials. He
wanted copies
of our
contracts... I
had the
opportunity to
hire some of
the people I
was working
for and with
at Stanford...
We
worked for years with teams of
scientists and engineers to
miniaturize all of the
technologies in the
laboratory." Can't wait for
the cross.
While SDNY heats up for
"Maximum Maxwell" - the trial
of Ghislaine Maxwell on sex
trafficking charges - lawyer
David Boies got into 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. 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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