Prosecutors Question Elizabeth Holmes's Silence On Mental Defense

The government is now questioning Holmes's lawyers why their legal draft didn't address the mental health defense they've been appealing to earlier.

What Happened: In Elizabeth Holmes' trial, for her fraudulent business practices at the blood-testing startup Theranos, prosecutors are now questioning whether she still plans to claim she was suffering from a "mental disease or defect," Bloomberg reports.  

In a court filing, prosecutors have asked Holmes why there is no single mention about the mental health defense in the 45-page questionnaire, which her lawyers want to use to vet jurors for her trial. 

"Given the breadth in number and coverage of questions that defendant proposes, the government submits this is a glaring omission," prosecutors wrote in the filing. 

The government is now asking for a standardized 15-page form to help vet the jury pool.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Holmes's lawyers had proposed the questionnaire for potential jurors in a 45-page form submitted in May to the federal judge overseeing her trial. 

The lawyers have argued that this sort of jury questionnaire is necessary to root out juror bias because of the publicity around the downfall of Theranos.

In response to it, prosecutors called the proposed list of questions "far too long, deeply intrusive in unnecessary ways, argumentative, and repetitive," according to an email Ms. Holmes included in a court filing. 

Why It Matters: Theranos, once valued at $9 billion, was dissolved in 2018. Holmes and the company's former COO, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, have been under investigation for defrauding investors and the public about the technology Theranos was developing. 

Ramesh has pleaded not guilty and is set to face a separate trial.

Read also: Elizabeth Holmes Doesn't Want Jury To Hear How Much She Made, Court Filings Show

Holmes is facing dozens of felony fraud charges and up to 20 years in prison. Her trial is scheduled to begin in August.

Famous investors to Theranos included Tim Draper, Larry Ellison, and Rupert Murdoch.

Image: Max Morse for TechCrunc via WikiCommons