Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Is a Mom

The child was born last month
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 6, 2021 2:19 AM CDT
Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Had Baby Last Month
Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of Theranos, left, leaves the Robert F. Peckham Federal Building in downtown San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, May 4, 2021.   (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group via AP)

The baby who delayed Elizabeth Holmes' criminal fraud trial was born last month. The Theranos founder gave birth to William Holmes Evans, her first child with partner Billy Evans, on July 10, ABC News reports. Holmes' trial on charges that she defrauded investors, doctors, and patients about her blood-testing startup was originally scheduled to start last month, but was delayed due to her pregnancy. Jury selection begins Aug. 31, CNBC reports. She faces up to 20 years behind bars if convicted. In June, the judge in the case said Holmes, 37, would be allowed to be with her baby during breaks in the trial in a quiet room.

As for how this will affect Holmes' prospects, a legal analyst at NBC says "being a new mother can only help get her sympathy from jurors. If convicted, even if her sentencing guidelines call for incarceration, her attorneys will place her motherhood front and central before the judge." And a defense attorney who spoke to ABC's podcast about Holmes, "The Dropout," concurs: "The fact that she is a young, new mother is going to play into any potential sentence." Also this week, the judge denied Holmes' motion to suppress evidence of customer complaints at her trial, meaning prosecutors will be allowed to call customers who received inaccurate test results to testify at the trial, BuzzFeed reports. (More Elizabeth Holmes stories.)

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