Newly unsealed court filings reveal that Elizabeth Holmes's defense in her upcoming federal trial for defrauding investors during her time as CEO of Theranos, a company not actually delivering any of the results she very publicly claimed it was, blames fellow Theranos executive and ex-boyfriend Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani for the racket and that Balwani controlled Holmes with terrible physical and mental abuses.
What is claimed in the NPR article is shocking and awful.
NPR:
The abuse claims relate to the fraud charges because she is expected to argue that Balwani's actions were equivalent to "dominating her and erasing her capacity to make decisions," including her ability to "deceive her victims," the court papers say.
Holmes will not be presenting an insanity defense, according to her lawyers in the new documents.
Instead, Holmes' legal team wrote that she will be demonstrating a "defense of a mental condition bearing on guilt" that was the result of partner abuse and that impacted her "state of mind" at the time of the alleged crimes.
Jury selection in Holmes' trial begins on Tuesday in what is expected to be a months-long trial taking place in San Jose, Calif.
One major question going into the proceeding had been whether Holmes will take the witness stand and testify directly to the jurors.
In the filings unsealed on Saturday, Holmes' legal team provided an answer.
"Ms. Holmes is likely to testify herself to the reasons why she believed, relied on, and deferred to Mr. Balwani," her lawyers wrote.
