Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes arrives at federal court in San Jose in October. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg News)
Jurors in the criminal fraud trial of Elizabeth Holmes sent a note to the judge on Monday morning saying they could not reach a unanimous decision on three of 11 fraud charges against the former Silicon Valley executive.
The note, however, seemed to suggest that they all agree on at least eight counts. If that's the case, it puts to rest speculation that they couldn't reach a verdict at all, which would have led to a mistrial.
If convicted, the onetime Silicon Valley superstar and former CEO of the blood-testing company Theranos faces the maximum possible punishment of 20 years in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Edward Davila responded by reading the jury an Allen charge — instructions that encourage jury members to keep deliberating until they reach a unanimous decision on all charges.
Under federal court rules, juries can come up with verdicts in which some of the charges are undecided, but it is rare. So far, it is unclear which way the jury was leaning: guilty, not guilty or mixed.
(NPR.com)
