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Elizabeth Holmes- Case Archive
Federal Criminal Trialtrial-daytrial-dayDay 25 - October 27, 2021A courthouse water outage forced evacuation and canceled testimony after the court limited further inquiry into Lisa Peterson's diligence and deferred disputed Alan Eisenman email issues.
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Day 25 - October 27, 2021

Water Outage Cancels Trial; Peterson Inquiry Limited and Eisenman Issues Deferred

Judge Edward J. Davila
1Proceedings
1Pages
0Witnesses
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Day 25 of 51

A courthouse water outage forced evacuation and canceled testimony after the court limited further inquiry into Lisa Peterson's diligence and deferred disputed Alan Eisenman email issues.

Full day summary

A burst pipe left the courthouse without water, prompting an immediate evacuation and cancellation of testimony. The court discussed extending later trial days to recover lost time and reminded jurors not to research or discuss the case during the break. Before the evacuation, the court addressed the remaining scope of Lisa Peterson's testimony. It barred further inquiry into Peterson's due diligence and reaffirmed that lack of investor diligence could not be argued as a defense, while leaving the testimony already elicited in the record. No immediate curative instruction was given. The parties also conditionally discussed limiting further post-investment questioning and redirect. On proposed Alan Eisenman email redactions, the court indicated that it was inclined to strike a statement that Eisenman had most of his net worth invested in Theranos. It deferred the admissibility question concerning an anticipated IPO until Eisenman testified after the government disclaimed any theory that Holmes had lied about the likelihood or intention of an IPO.

1. Pretrial Evidentiary Hearings and Trial Scheduling

A courthouse water outage led to evidentiary and scheduling discussions before the building was evacuated and trial was canceled for the day.

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Procedural
Courthouse Water Outage and Trial Scheduling

A courthouse water outage placed the trial day in doubt while the court and counsel considered whether to briefly finish Lisa Peterson's testimony.

Procedural
Evidentiary Hearing on Lisa Peterson Testimony Scope
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Counsel tentatively narrowed the remaining scope of Lisa Peterson's testimony before an immediate courthouse closure ended testimony for the day.

Procedural
Victim-Blaming Evidence and Argument Hearing

The court barred further inquiry into Lisa Peterson's due diligence and reaffirmed that the defense could not use lack of investor diligence as a defense; no immediate curative instruction was given.

Procedural
Evidentiary Hearing on Alan Eisenman Email Redactions

The court tentatively excluded an investor net-worth statement but deferred the disputed IPO passage until Alan Eisenman's testimony and possible foundation.

Procedural
Jury Advisement on Closure, Schedule, and Admonition

A courthouse water outage canceled trial, prompting revised scheduling, a renewed jury admonition, and a defense request for a juror-related email.

Highlights

Victim-Blaming Evidence and Argument HearingrulingThe court barred further inquiry into Peterson's due diligence and reaffirmed that the defense could not argue lack of due diligence as a defense, while leaving the testimony already elicited in the record.Victim-Blaming Evidence and Argument Hearing“BUT FURTHER INQUIRY ON THAT SHOULDN'T BE HAD. I THINK YOU'VE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO RAISE THE POINT, WHAT SHE DID, WHAT SHE DIDN'T DO.”— Edward J. DavilaThe judge imposed a direct limit on additional questioning about Peterson's due diligence.Evidentiary Hearing on Alan Eisenman Email RedactionsrulingThe court indicated that it was inclined to strike the statement in Exhibit 2216 that Alan Eisenman had most of his net worth in Theranos, while expressing doubt that the remainder had the prejudicial effect asserted by the defense.Evidentiary Hearing on Alan Eisenman Email RedactionsrulingThe court deferred ruling on the IPO passage until Eisenman testified and stated that, if admitted, the evidence might require an instruction preventing the jury from treating it as charged conduct or as material to the charged conduct.Evidentiary Hearing on Alan Eisenman Email Redactions“THE GOVERNMENT AT NO TIME WILL ARGUE THAT MS. HOLMES LIED TO MR. EISENMAN ABOUT THE LIKELIHOOD OF AN IPO OR HER INTENTION TO PROCEED WITH AN IPO.”— John C. BosticThe prosecutor expressly limited the government's theory, saying the IPO discussion was offered as context for Eisenman's investment decision rather than as a separate alleged misrepresentation.Jury Advisement on Closure, Schedule, and Admonitionprocedural actionThe court announced that a water outage required immediate evacuation of the courthouse and canceled trial for the day.
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