Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes welcomes 1st child with partner Billy Evans ahead of criminal trial
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and her partner Billy Evans welcomed their first child, William Holmes Evans, on July 10, in Redwood City, California, according to birth records obtained by ABC News.
The birth comes as Holmes is awaiting criminal trial for 12 counts of fraud, beginning Aug. 31 in San Jose, California. If convicted, Holmes could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each count of fraud. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The charges stem from allegations that Holmes, a Stanford dropout who became a media darling, engaged in a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud investors about her blood-testing company, and a separate scheme to defraud doctors and patients, according to the indictment.
During a pretrial hearing in June, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila stated there would be a quiet room for Holmes to tend to the newborn during breaks in the trial.
Holmes, 37, first informed the court of her pregnancy in March 2021, according to court filings. The news delayed the trial, previously scheduled for July 13, for a fourth time. The date had been moved three times due to the pandemic.
During a Zoom hearing following the filing, the prosecution voiced their frustration, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Leach saying it was “frustrating and disappointing to learn about this now.”
“Right or wrong, that is going to have a bearing on the jury’s perception of her,” Caroline Polisi, a federal white-collar criminal defense attorney, told ABC News’ Rebecca Jarvis in “The Dropout: Elizabeth Holmes on Trial” podcast. “Those types of things actually play a really large role in trials, even though they’re not supposed to.”
“Not only is that going to help her in her trial, but it will really help her in the event that she is convicted,” Polisi added. “The fact that she is a young, new mother is going to play into any potential sentence.”
However, defense attorney Jose Baez, famous for defending Casey Anthony, thinks it could backfire.
“I really think that could backfire because once a juror feels that one side is trying to manipulate them over another, they’re not going to like it,” he said.
Polisi and Baez, who are not associated with the trial, are among the top legal experts who will be appearing in “The Dropout: Elizabeth Holmes on Trial,” an upcoming series of new episodes to ABC News’ No. 1 hit podcast, “The Dropout.” Each week, the podcast will take listeners inside the courtroom and track the trial with real-time reporting on the most important developments.
The new episodes will feature conversations between Jarvis and Holmes’ former colleagues and acquaintances, Theranos patients, top legal experts and others who will provide insight into the trial and Holmes.
The podcast will also bring listeners up to speed on the twists and turns since Holmes was first charged.
“The Dropout: Elizabeth Holmes on Trial” debuts with two episodes on Aug. 31 and is available for free on major listening platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, TuneIn, Audacy and the ABC News app.
New episodes post Tuesdays throughout the trial with bonus episodes as news warrants. It is written by Rebecca Jarvis, Victoria Thompson and Taylor Dunn. Jarvis and Dunn are producers, and Thompson is executive producer.
Listen to the trailer here:
ABC News’ Dea Athon contributed to this report.
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