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Law360 (December 21, 2020, 4:32 PM EST ) A California federal judge on Friday rescheduled former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes' criminal jury trial from March to July, delaying the closely watched fraud trial against the beleaguered blood-testing startup founder for the third time since it was originally set due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In a three-page order, U.S District Judge Edward Davila scrapped Holmes' March 9 trial date and reset it for July 13, which is nearly a year after the jury trial was originally scheduled to take place before the coronavirus pandemic forced courthouses across the country to shut doors and go virtual.
"The court recognizes that a continuance of the trial will cause great inconvenience to victims who would like their day in court, as well as defendant, who wishes a speedy opportunity to defend against the charges," the judge wrote. "All of these rights are important, but paramount to the court is the safety and health of the community."
Judge Davila noted that the San Jose federal courthouse is subject to a regional stay-at-home order due to the "unprecedented surge" in COVID-19 cases and the fact that local hospitals are nearing maximum capacity.
"These conditions will impact the jury panel and the public's confidence in an in-person trial estimated to last several months," the order says.
The new trial schedule comes after Judge Davila told counsel earlier this month that he was "hopeful and optimistic" that they would be able to keep the March 9 trial date with new COVID-19 courtroom safety protocols in place. Holmes' trial was initially slated to begin in August, but it was pushed back to October and then March due to the virus.
If the trial takes place in July, Holmes will face a jury more than three years after the government initially hit her and former Theranos Chief Operating Officer Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani with a grand jury indictment in 2018. Under federal law, once an indictment is filed and the defendant is aware of it, the case typically must proceed to trial within 70 days. Prosecutors accuse the pair of defrauding investors, patients, insurance companies and doctors with bogus blood-testing technology they knew didn't work.
After Judge Davila trimmed some charges in February, he severed Balwani's case from Holmes' trial and scheduled Balwani's trial for April 2021, which has also since been postponed due to the pandemic.
As of Friday, California had more than 1.7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, resulting in 22,160 deaths, according to the judge's order.
Counsel for Holmes and representatives for the government didn't immediately respond Monday to requests for comment.
The government is represented by John C. Bostic and Robert S. Leach of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California.
Holmes is represented by Lance A. Wade, Amy Mason Saharia and Patrick J. Looby of Williams & Connolly LLP.
The case is U.S. v. Elizabeth Holmes et al., case number 5:18-cr-00258, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
--Editing by Ellen Johnson.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
