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Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and her partner Billy Evans welcomed their first child, William Holmes Evans, on July 10 in Redwood City, Calif., According to birth certificates obtained by ABC News.
The birth comes as Holmes awaits criminal trial on 12 counts of fraud, beginning August 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 pleaded not guilty to all counts.
The charges stem from allegations that Holmes, a Stanford dropout turned media darling, engaged in a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud investors over her blood testing company, and in a separate scheme to defraud doctors and patients, according to the indictment.
At a preliminary hearing in June, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila said there would be a quiet room for Holmes to care for the newborn during trial breaks.
Holmes, 37, first informed the court of her pregnancy in March 2021, according to court documents. The news delayed the trial, previously scheduled for July 13, for the fourth time. The date had been moved three times due to the pandemic.
In a Zoom hearing after the filing, the prosecution expressed frustration, with Assistant US Attorney Robert Leach saying it was “frustrating and disappointing to learn this now.”
“True or false, that’s going to affect the jury’s perception of her,” white-collar federal criminal defense attorney Caroline Polisi told ABC News’s Rebecca Jarvis on the podcast “The Dropout: Elizabeth Holmes on Trial “. “These types of things actually play a very important role in testing, even though they’re not supposed to.”
“Not only will this help her in her trial, but it will really help her in case she is convicted,” Polisi added. “The fact that she is a young and new mother is going to play a part in any potential grief.”
However, defense attorney Jose Baez, famous for defending Casey Anthony, believes it could backfire.
“I really think it could backfire on them because once a juror feels that one party is trying to manipulate them over another, it’s not going to please them,” he said.
Polisi and Baez, who are not associated with the lawsuit, are among the top legal experts to appear in “The Dropout: Elizabeth Holmes on Trial,” an upcoming series of new episodes from ABC News’ # 1 hit podcast, ” The dropout. ” Each week, the podcast will take listeners into the courtroom and follow the trial with real-time reports 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 update listeners on twists and turns since Holmes was first charged.
“The Dropout: Elizabeth Holmes on Trial” debuts with two episodes on August 31 and is available for free on major listening platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, TuneIn, Audacy and ABC News app.
New episodes are released on Tuesdays throughout the trial with bonus episodes according to the news. 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’s Dea Athon contributed to this report.
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