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Right. As I wrote in another comment, this seems to be a way to argue diminished capacity, probably by arguing that she was a victim of battered spouse syndrome
by filmgirlcw 6y ago
Right. As I wrote in another comment, this seems to be a way to argue diminished capacity, probably by arguing that she was a victim of battered spouse syndrome. It’s the modern day Twinkie defense.
- perl4ever 6y agoI think that's probably trivializing it. I happen to be reading the (or a) book about Theranos, "Bad Blood", and it seems like something worse might be the issue. Maybe not just with one person either. She founded the company at like 19. And had a relationship very early with Sunny who was like twice her age.
- benmmurphy 6y agoWhat is the decision procedure for distinguishing between a woman who is being taken advantage of and a woman who is exploiting those around her? If she doesn’t flag as an exploiter is our decision procedure useful?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- perl4ever 6y agoI don't think those things are mutually exclusive in a given person, and may or may not happen at the same time. I'm not sure I understand the question overall.
- filmgirlcw 6y agoI’ve read the book — it’s excellent. And I’m not arguing that Balwani isn’t at the very least, gross on a lot of levels. But that book and the other reporting (Rebecca Jarvis’ podcast for ABC News, Nick Bilton’s stories for Vanity Fair) seem to indicate that she was the boss/leader at Theranos. That isn’t to say there couldn’t be some bad things that happened in her relationships that led to diminished capacity defense, but the burden is on the defense to prove that. Based on what we know right now, I think any claims that “I committed fraud because I was abused” — assuming that is the defense — trivializes the real men and women who suffer from abuse every single day and don’t do the things Holmes did.
- perl4ever 6y agoThe phrase "based on what we know right now" seems inappropriate to me. It's like when people talk about the covid epidemic based on the numbers that we have to date, implicitly assuming that there will be no new cases tomorrow. Even though we don't actually have tomorrow's information today, we can be sure there will be something coming.
- stickfigure 6y agoWe have no idea what they're going to say in the courtroom, not even the people who read Carreyrou's book. Hell, we don't even know to what extent Covid is transmitted via droplets vs aerosols. "Based on what we know right now" is highly appropriate preface for claims about an uncertain future. I wish more people would use that phrase. I, personally, have popcorn in hand.
- filmgirlcw 6y agoThank you! And like you, I’m also here with the popcorn. #TeamDrama I have a $500 bet that Holmes won’t serve any jail time (not that she won’t be convicted and putting aside any plea deals), so I have a vested interest in whatever her defense is as working. But on a personal level, I think she’s a terrible person and I’m just excited to watch the case unfold.
- perl4ever 6y ago
- phobosanomaly 6y agoThe age gap and his reputation for being an absolute tyrant also stood out to me. I wouldn't rule out some sort of abuse. That being said, she also seemed to be a bit of a tyrant herself, and it's very possible she latched on to him at 19 to use his money and connections, and found it handy later on to have a co-conspirator as ruthless as she was who was willing to feed the falsehood treadmill.
- perl4ever 6y agoIt's possible your latter paragraph is correct, but she was primed by earlier experiences. In general, she could have a personality disorder and be a victim.
- phobosanomaly 6y agoI guess we'll find out as the case plays out. I reserve my sympathy, as the length to which she and Sunny went to to intimidate and threaten people was chilling.
- perl4ever 6y agoI have no reason to think she deserves sympathy, yet, and the first priority of justice should be to get the truth and then to protect the public.