The judge in Elizabeth Holmes’ criminal fraud trial dismissed a juror who said she was Buddhist and was worried about possibly helping send Holmes to prison.
Juror No. 4, a dark-haired woman in surgical mask and a green floral blouse, told Judge Edward Davila in U.S. District Court in San Jose that as a Buddhist, she believes in love and forgiveness. She worried that if she and other jurors find Holmes guilty, “I’m thinking of all the time she’ll be in jail.”
“It’s very hard for me,” the juror told Davila. “I’m thinking what happens if she has to be in there for a long long time and I’m out here. I’ll feel like it’s my fault.”
Davila reminded her that the jurors have been instructed that they cannot consider punishment when deciding about a defendant. “Your responsibility as a juror… is to only decide the facts of the case,” he said.
The woman said she kept thinking about punishment “every day.”
Davila thanked her for her honesty. “Do you think you’re able to separate your beliefs, your religious and personal beliefs, can you separate those from your job to decide the facts in the case?” Davila asked.
The juror responded that she could stay on the jury if she didn’t have to vote about whether Holmes was guilty. Davila asked whether she thought her feelings would persist throughout the trial, and she responded, “Let’s say she’s guilty and then I think of punishment from the government,” and then repeated that she thought daily about the possibility of Holmes’ incarceration.
Holmes, a Stanford University dropout who founded Theranos at age 19 in 2003, is charged with allegedly bilking investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars, and defrauding doctors and patients with false claims that the company’s machines could conduct a full range of tests using just a few drops of blood. She and her co-accused, former company president Balwani, have denied the allegations. Balwani is to be tried next year. Holmes faces maximum penalties of 20 years in prison and a $2.75 million fine if convicted, plus possible restitution, the Department of Justice has said.
Davila asked federal prosecutors and Holmes’ defense team whether they wanted the juror to be excused, and both sides said they did. Prosecutor Jeff Schenk said he found Juror No. 4 to be sincere, particularly since she had said she could stay on the jury if she didn’t have to vote about Holmes.
Davila decided to excuse the juror, who will be replaced by one of the alternates who attend the trial daily.
“It appears that her deeply held religious convictions are causing her some difficult issues,” Davila said. “Even though I told her punishment is something she cannot consider… it did not seem to assuage her from her feelings.”
After his decision, Alternate Juror No. 2 came before the judge with concerns that English wasn’t her first language and as a juror, her role could impact Holmes’ “future.” The young woman, brown-haired and wearing a pink jacket, was retained as an alternate after Davila highlighted the importance of diversity in juries, and she acknowledged that she had understood the proceedings so far. Davila then informed court, and the alternate, that she would replace Juror No. 4.