It’s no surprise that Elizabeth Holmes’ co-defendant and former boyfriend, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, came out swinging against her Tuesday in opening statements to his criminal fraud trial, defense lawyers say.
“Sunny Balwani did not start Theranos. He did not control Theranos,” Balwani’s attorney, Steve Cazares, told jurors in opening arguments, The New York Times and other media organizations reported.
The description of Balwani's role countered that of prosecutors, who characterized the defendant as Holmes' partner in crime. Balwani, 56, faces a dozen fraud and conspiracy charges tied to his role as president and chief operating officer of Holmes’ defunct blood testing company, Theranos.
His trial, now unfolding in the same San Jose, California courtroom where a jury convicted Holmes on four fraud counts, in January, brings one of Silicon Valley’s most high-profile cases closer to resolution.
White collar criminal defense experts say Balwani is somewhat disadvantaged by facing a trial after Holmes, who testified that he abused her and influenced her behavior at Theranos.
“The defense in this case starts at a deficit. It must overcome both the publicity surrounding Holmes’ conviction, and also Holmes’ own statements against Balwani,” Gregory Gilchrist, professor of Law at University of Toledo College of Law, told Yahoo Finance.
White collar criminal defense experts say that Balwani’s strategy is somewhat predictable, in part because a case against multiple defendants...
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