Prosecutors say Ramesh Balwani worked hand in hand with Elizabeth Holmes, the Theranos chief executive, who was convicted of four counts of fraud.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A small group with cameras milled around on the sidewalk. Inside, a smattering of reporters stared into their phones. And when the defendant walked in, flanked by lawyers, barely anyone noticed.
So began the federal trial on Tuesday of Ramesh Balwani, the tech executive who is accused of defrauding patients and investors about Theranos, the blood testing start-up he helped build. Mr. Balwani, who goes by Sunny, has pleaded not guilty to a dozen charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The sparse crowd and quiet atmosphere at U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., felt nothing like the circus frenzy that engulfed the same sidewalk months earlier when his alleged co-conspirator and former girlfriend, Elizabeth Holmes, stood trial on the same charges.
Mr. Balwani’s lawyer started his opening statement by deflecting blame onto Ms. Holmes, who was the chief executive of Theranos.
“Sunny Balwani did not start Theranos,” said the lawyer, Steve Cazares, from the Orrick firm. “He did not control Theranos.”
Ms. Holmes’s fame and then notoriety made her trial a media spectacle — the story of her rise and fall has been chronicled in podcasts, a book, a documentary and a Hulu series — as well as a parable of Silicon Valley hype and hubris. For months, spectators, journalists and obsessive true-crime...
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