Elizabeth Holmes’s trial has been delayed because she is pregnant

Theranos’ former CEO Elizabeth Holmes, whose criminal fraud case was set to begin in July, is asking for a postponement because she is pregnant.

In a lawsuit on Friday, her lawyers and prosecutors asked Judge Edward Davila to delay the start of her trial by six weeks, starting on August 31, 2021.

“On March 2, 2021, the defendant’s lawyer informed the government that the defendant is pregnant, with an expected due date in July 2021,” Holmes prosecutors and attorneys write. “Both sides agree that, in light of this development, it is not feasible to start the process on July 13, 2021.”

Other details were not readily available.

The trial has already been postponed three times due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Holmes’s legal team was willing to raise the issue of mental health as part of its defense strategy. In a previous lawsuit, Holmes’ attorneys wrote that they intend to submit evidence “pertaining to a mental illness or defect or any other mental state of the defendant pertaining to … the question of guilt.”

This includes an expert testimonial from Dr. Mindy Mechanic, a professor of clinical psychology at California State University Fullerton who, according to the university’s website, “ focuses on the psychosocial consequences of violence, trauma and victimization with an emphasis on violence against women and other forms of interpersonal violence. “

The judge gave federal prosecutors the opportunity to conduct their own investigation into Holmes’s mental health and to be examined by two experts, a psychologist and a psychiatrist.

Holmes and her former COO Sunny Balwani are each facing a dozen criminal fraud charges and 20 years in prison for falsely claiming that Theranos technology can perform dozens of blood tests with just a drop of blood.

The Silicon Valley start-up was once valued at $ 9 billion before closing in 2018.