Elizabeth Holmes’ failure to make her blood-testing technology startup Theranos a viable business was not a crime, her lawyers told a federal jury on Wednesday, at the beginning of a closely watched trial that will scrutinize the girl mental state and Silicon Valley’s promotional culture.
“Elizabeth Holmes did not go to work every day intending to lie, cheat, and steal, ” an attorney for Holmes, Lance Wade, told jurors during opening arguments. “The government would have you believe the woman company her entire life is a fraud. ”
Holmes, 37, “worked herself to the bone for 15 years trying to make lab testing cheaper and more accessible. She poured her heart and her soul into that effort, ” Wade added.