Elizabeth Holmes' new trial bid: her Theranos lab chief stands by his testimony

A former laboratory director for the failed Silicon Valley blood-testing startup, Theranos, testified against the company’s former CEO Elizabeth Holmes for a second time on Monday, diminishing her chances for a new trial.

Lawyers for Holmes and federal prosecutors questioned Dr. Adam Rosendorff under oath during an evidentiary hearing on Monday. The hearing was sparked by Holmes’ claim that Dr. Adam Rosendorff’s post-trial statements to her romantic partner Billy Evans conflicted with those he made at trial. In January, a jury found Holmes guilty of using her now defunct blood diagnostics company, Theranos, to defraud investors.

"Do you still stand by your testimony?" U.S. Assistant Attorney John Bostic asked Rosendorff, according to Law 360’s Dorothy Atkins. "Absolutely, I do," Rosendorff said.

During Holmes’ trial, Rosendorff testified on behalf of the government, saying he felt pressured to rapidly expand Theranos’ blood-testing system, despite problems with its technology.

However, Holmes contends that Rosendorff sought out Holmes at the couple’s Woodside, California home on Aug. 8, seven months after Holmes' trial. In a conversation with Evans, she claims, Rosendorff allegedly said that government prosecutors made his testimony about conditions at Theranos seem worse than they actually were. Holmes argues that a mischaracterization of Rosendorff's testimony could justify retrying the case.

But in a court filing and again in court Monday, the former Theranos lab chief made it clear that he stands by his prior testimony—and that he visited the residence to forgive the 38-year-old Holmes, not to recant his statements under oath.

On the stand Monday, Law 360's Atkins Tweeted that Rosendorff told Wade that he showed up at Holmes' home after feeling distressed that Holmes' child, born in August 2021 around a month before the start of her trial, would be raised at first without her mother, if Holmes is sentenced to serve time in prison. Rosendorff reportedly added that he understood Holmes to be pregnant with a second child.

Holmes’ lawyer Lance Wade also pressed Rosendorff about his mental health, citing a September story published in South African Jewish report in which Rosendorff said his role as a whistleblower led to a breakdown that included hospitalization, health problems, and medication prior to Holmes’ trial.

Rosendorff told Wade that the state of his mental health didn't impact the truthfulness of his trial testimony, Law 360 reported.

Criminal defense lawyers who talked with Yahoo Finance anticipate that Holmes' chances of securing a redo are slim. His post-trial statements were at the center of Holmes' request.

“If Rosendroff testifies in the way he previewed in his motion...and the judge credits him, it’s over,” Andrey Spektor, a partner with the law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, said before the hearing.

Even if Evans’ story is accurate, it wouldn’t necessarily lead to a new trial for Holmes, criminal defense attorney Michael Weinstein told Yahoo Finance. In addition to his motion and trial testimony, Weinstein said, Rosendorff also signed a certification to affirm the truth of his statements made on the stand.

"Based on what he filed already, I don't see this developing into a new trial,"Weinstein said. "Unless he comes out and says I lied, or I testified falsely, which of course, would put him in serious jeopardy..."

In order to grant a new trial the attorneys said the judge would need to find that the government committed prosecutorial misconduct. Specifically, that they shaped Rosendorff’s testimony in a way they knew would be false to secure a conviction.

Judge Edward Davila, who also presided over Holmes’ highly-publicized trial, granted Holmes and federal prosecutors until Oct. 24 to file briefs, according to Law 360.

In January, Holmes was convicted on three counts of criminal wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Her jury unanimously found her guilty of illegally fleecing investors out of millions of dollars through her Silicon Valley blood-testing startup.

In July, a separate Silicon Valley jury closed another chapter in the decades-long Theranos story, convicting its former president and chief operating officer, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, of criminal fraud. Balwani was also Holmes romantic partner during the time the two ran the biotech startup.

Holmes sentencing, which was postponed multiple times, is now scheduled for Nov. 18.

Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on Twitter @alexiskweed.

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