Elizabeth Holmes appeals to judge to overturn Theranos’ convictions

• Elizabeth Holmes has asked a judge to overturn her conviction on the electronic fraud charges.
• Holmes, who appeared in The Dropout, was convicted of four counts of fraud in January.
• Her lawyers said that “no rational juror” could convict beyond a reasonable doubt based on the evidence.

Elizabeth Holmes has appealed to a judge to overturn her conviction for phone fraud, with her lawyer saying there was “insufficient evidence” for any “reasonable juror” to proceed with a conviction, according to court documents filed Friday.

In a 24-page dossier, Theranos’ lawyers targeted her conviction of wire fraud, arguing that the evidence presented did not rise to the level of an indictment.

They said in the suit: “Since no reasonable juror has been able to find the elements of fraud and conspiracy to commit Internet fraud beyond reasonable doubt in this record, the Court shall grant Mrs. Holmes’ motion for acquittal.” First reported by Bloomberg.

Holmes was convicted of four counts of fraud in January related to investments made by hedge fund manager Brian Grossman, the DeVos family and former Kravath attorney Daniel Mosley.

She was acquitted of four other counts of electronic fraud, while jurors were unable to reach a verdict on three other counts.

Holmes is scheduled to be sentenced on September 26, with a maximum sentence of 20 years on each count and a $250,000 fine. She was charged along with former Theranos president Ramesh “Sunny” Palwani, whose trial is still ongoing.

In the latest filing, Holmes’ lawyers said there was no evidence that Holmes and Balwany conspired to commit fraud against investors.

They wrote: “Even if Mrs. Holmes had committed electronic fraud against an investor (she did not) and even if Mr. Balwani had committed electronic fraud against an investor, this neither establishes the existence of a conspiratorial agreement between them, nor does it prove that Mrs. Holmes deliberately joined in any agreement.”

Lawyers claimed that only one of the hundreds of texts presented to jurors was related to the representations of an investor: Rupert Murdoch.

“But, again, this letter, provided by an authenticating witness unable to provide context, provides no idea that Mr. Balwani and Mrs. Holmes were conspiring to defraud Mr. Murdoch,” they said.

Holmes dropped out of college at 19 to start Theranos, which attracted a valuation of $9 billion at its peak. Her journey was depicted in the Hulu drama “The Dropout” in which she starred as Amanda Seyfried.

Theranos technology was found to be defective, as a 2015 Wall Street Journal investigation by John Carreyrou led to the company’s collapse and lawsuits from its biggest backer.

Holmes’ lawyers argued that the investor fraud charges “rely heavily” on the testimony of whistleblower Erica Cheung, but that Cheung testified that Theranos’ findings had failed before Holmes promoted a later version of its analyst, miniLab, to investors.

“The investors that Theranos partners with have focused on the company’s long-term goals and its ability to impact healthcare in the future,” they said.

A judge will hear Holmes’ appeal in July, before sentencing in September.

The San Francisco attorney general’s office could not immediately be reached for comment outside of normal business hours.