5 ms·

Theranos Elizabeth Holmes asks for a lenient 18-month sentence at home

29 points by kqr2 4y ago

zen21 4y ago
I wonder if Henry Kissinger wrote a letter on her behalf?
- zackees 4y ago
metadat 4y ago
> "We acknowledge that this may seem a tall order given the public perception of this case," her lawyers said in the filing, urging Davila to see beyond the "media vitriol for Ms. Holmes." > The judge should not view Theranos as "a house of cards," but as the "ambitious, inventive, and indisputably valuable enterprise it was," they wrote. "The court's difficult task is to look beyond those surface-level views when it fashions its sentence." She's still taking responsibility for exactly zero.
kumarvvr 4y ago
The gall on this person ! She wants leniency because she does not consider herself responsible for the fiasco in any way. Such a narcissistic move.
downrightmike 4y ago
Straight to hell please. Edit: she knew 100% this was fraud.
Jun8 4y ago
List of letters her family and others have just submitted to plead leniency in sentencing: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.327949/gov.uscourts.cand.327949.1642.3.pdf https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.32... I’ve read a few of these and they seem to be genuinely heartfelt, expressing that she is a good person, already suffered enough, etc. What’s not covered is the lie she perpetuated, was that all a misunderstanding? Just a case of overzealous hyping as opposed to conscious fraud? That’s very hard to believe.
- nowherebeen 4y ago
  Good people can still do evil things. Should someone not face the repercussions simply because they are a good person? This is in reply to those letters and not your position.
  - missedthecue 4y ago
    I think it depends how much of a danger they are to society. Is Elizabeth Holmes likely to defraud or otherwise hurt people if she's not put in prison for X years? People on HN, Twitter, and every opinion column in the US are quick to advocate prison reform, but as soon as it comes to a character or subgroup they don't like, it's lock 'em up and throw away the key. I get it. Elizabeth Holmes was a rich asshole (who is guilty mainly of defrauding other rich assholes). But let's not let our incarceration policy be guided solely by our preconceptions, which are often heavily biased, influenced, and even misinformed. Punitive deconstructive punishment is corrosive to society.
    - Kranar 4y ago
      Fair point, but there are also a lot of people, me included, who don't care too much about the fact that she's not a danger to society and instead want to see a punishment that would deter future corporate executives from thinking about doing anything remotely similar in the future. My desire for prison reform has nothing to do with sentencing. For the most part, prison reform has to do with conditions inside of a prison, for example cleanliness and the humane treatment of prisoners.
      - happymellon 4y ago
        > [I] want to see a punishment that would deter future corporate executives from thinking about doing anything remotely similar in the future. Unfortunately for that to happen, we would need some proof that punishment acts as a deterrent.
        mecha_ghidorah 4y ago
sytelus 4y ago
Interesting part: As the trial was starting, Homes decided to be become pregnant! She gave birth to first baby and now she is immediately onto 2nd one as judge decides sentencing!! Given Pregnancies are all pre-planned, she is either using pregnancy to change outcome or just done with kids before she goes to jail. Either way, it would be super hard for judge to put Homes in jail when two infants needs their mother. This is either a brilliant move or a very cruel one.
- caminante 4y ago
  She also became a rape counselor. She was obsessed with her image, and I question whether these are her even her attorneys' ideas.
  - tjpnz 4y ago
    >She also became a rape counselor. If that's true and she's provided services to rape survivors that needs to be looked into. Individuals who've been through such an experience deserve to be taken seriously. They should not be the plaything of someone known for psychological manipulation and driving people to suicide.
    - peanuty1 4y ago
      For those unaware, the person that the above commenter is referring to that committed suicide was Theranos employee Ian Gibbons.
- europeanguy 4y ago
  Come on, this isn't the kind of person who would do that!
- iancmceachern 4y ago
  It's a total psychopath move.
- SamReidHughes 4y ago
  I have a simpler explanation. She's 38 so if she wants kids she better have them before prison or she'll have none at all.
ozzythecat 4y ago
> The judge should not view Theranos as "a house of cards," but as the "ambitious, inventive, and indisputably valuable enterprise it was," they wrote. "The court's difficult task is to look beyond those surface-level views when it fashions its sentence." I’m trying to stay level headed and reason about this. I am a layman when it comes to the US justice system, but I find this insulting and making a mockery of the justice system. It was absolutely a fraudulent, house of cards. The courts task is to actually carry out justice, and keep in mind the fact that Elizabeth Holmes carefully concatenated an imagine of success, even dressing like Steve Jobs. Forget the investors. This crime defrauded actual patients. An 18 month sentence? Ha! Why not just abolish the entire judicial branch of government? What’s even the point?
- Kranar 4y ago
  >This crime defrauded actual patients. It is somewhat worth pointing out that she was found not guilty of defrauding patients. She was tried on that count but found not guilty and one of the jurors has come out to say that they actually do not think that Holmes had ever defrauded any patients or doctors, only that she had defrauded investors. This is in stark contrast to Balwani who was recently found guilty of defrauding patients and doctors.
  - Aeolun 4y ago
    How does that actually work? Did they not give bullshit test results to patients?
  - voakbasda 4y ago
    I think this reflects a failure of the justice system. The fact that a jury acquitted her does not mean she is innocent. It means the jury was duped by yet more of her lies.
user_named 4y ago
The audacity to even ask for such a light sentence. No normal person would.
rdtwo 4y ago
While harsh prison sentences don’t work for most offenders in this case for psychopaths they work just fine
ID1452319 4y ago
She needs to go to prison for a long time (at least 10 years) for one simple reason, to act as a deterrent to anyone else who thinks you can create a company and then lie about your products capabilities in order to defraud investors and customers. It isn't just a case that people lost money in Theranos and that their customer's customer's health may have been adversely impacted, it drives right at the heart of capitalism. Yes, we all know it isn't a level playing field, but when a company is committing fraud then it impacts other companies who may have been actually trying to develop a legitimate blood testing product and undermines the public's confidence in such companies.

29 points by kqr2 4y ago

zen21 4y ago

I wonder if Henry Kissinger wrote a letter on her behalf?

zackees 4y ago

metadat 4y ago

> "We acknowledge that this may seem a tall order given the public perception of this case," her lawyers said in the filing, urging Davila to see beyond the "media vitriol for Ms. Holmes." > The judge should not view Theranos as "a house of cards," but as the "ambitious, inventive, and indisputably valuable enterprise it was," they wrote. "The court's difficult task is to look beyond those surface-level views when it fashions its sentence." She's still taking responsibility for exactly zero.

kumarvvr 4y ago

The gall on this person ! She wants leniency because she does not consider herself responsible for the fiasco in any way. Such a narcissistic move.

downrightmike 4y ago

Straight to hell please. Edit: she knew 100% this was fraud.

Jun8 4y ago

List of letters her family and others have just submitted to plead leniency in sentencing: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.327949/gov.uscourts.cand.327949.1642.3.pdf https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.32... I’ve read a few of these and they seem to be genuinely heartfelt, expressing that she is a good person, already suffered enough, etc. What’s not covered is the lie she perpetuated, was that all a misunderstanding? Just a case of overzealous hyping as opposed to conscious fraud? That’s very hard to believe.

nowherebeen 4y ago
Good people can still do evil things. Should someone not face the repercussions simply because they are a good person? This is in reply to those letters and not your position.
- missedthecue 4y ago
  I think it depends how much of a danger they are to society. Is Elizabeth Holmes likely to defraud or otherwise hurt people if she's not put in prison for X years? People on HN, Twitter, and every opinion column in the US are quick to advocate prison reform, but as soon as it comes to a character or subgroup they don't like, it's lock 'em up and throw away the key. I get it. Elizabeth Holmes was a rich asshole (who is guilty mainly of defrauding other rich assholes). But let's not let our incarceration policy be guided solely by our preconceptions, which are often heavily biased, influenced, and even misinformed. Punitive deconstructive punishment is corrosive to society.
  - Kranar 4y ago
    Fair point, but there are also a lot of people, me included, who don't care too much about the fact that she's not a danger to society and instead want to see a punishment that would deter future corporate executives from thinking about doing anything remotely similar in the future. My desire for prison reform has nothing to do with sentencing. For the most part, prison reform has to do with conditions inside of a prison, for example cleanliness and the humane treatment of prisoners.
    - happymellon 4y ago
      > [I] want to see a punishment that would deter future corporate executives from thinking about doing anything remotely similar in the future. Unfortunately for that to happen, we would need some proof that punishment acts as a deterrent.
      - mecha_ghidorah 4y ago

sytelus 4y ago

Interesting part: As the trial was starting, Homes decided to be become pregnant! She gave birth to first baby and now she is immediately onto 2nd one as judge decides sentencing!! Given Pregnancies are all pre-planned, she is either using pregnancy to change outcome or just done with kids before she goes to jail. Either way, it would be super hard for judge to put Homes in jail when two infants needs their mother. This is either a brilliant move or a very cruel one.

caminante 4y ago
She also became a rape counselor. She was obsessed with her image, and I question whether these are her even her attorneys' ideas.
- tjpnz 4y ago
  >She also became a rape counselor. If that's true and she's provided services to rape survivors that needs to be looked into. Individuals who've been through such an experience deserve to be taken seriously. They should not be the plaything of someone known for psychological manipulation and driving people to suicide.
  - peanuty1 4y ago
    For those unaware, the person that the above commenter is referring to that committed suicide was Theranos employee Ian Gibbons.
europeanguy 4y ago
Come on, this isn't the kind of person who would do that!
iancmceachern 4y ago
It's a total psychopath move.
SamReidHughes 4y ago
I have a simpler explanation. She's 38 so if she wants kids she better have them before prison or she'll have none at all.

ozzythecat 4y ago

> The judge should not view Theranos as "a house of cards," but as the "ambitious, inventive, and indisputably valuable enterprise it was," they wrote. "The court's difficult task is to look beyond those surface-level views when it fashions its sentence." I’m trying to stay level headed and reason about this. I am a layman when it comes to the US justice system, but I find this insulting and making a mockery of the justice system. It was absolutely a fraudulent, house of cards. The courts task is to actually carry out justice, and keep in mind the fact that Elizabeth Holmes carefully concatenated an imagine of success, even dressing like Steve Jobs. Forget the investors. This crime defrauded actual patients. An 18 month sentence? Ha! Why not just abolish the entire judicial branch of government? What’s even the point?

Kranar 4y ago
>This crime defrauded actual patients. It is somewhat worth pointing out that she was found not guilty of defrauding patients. She was tried on that count but found not guilty and one of the jurors has come out to say that they actually do not think that Holmes had ever defrauded any patients or doctors, only that she had defrauded investors. This is in stark contrast to Balwani who was recently found guilty of defrauding patients and doctors.
- Aeolun 4y ago
  How does that actually work? Did they not give bullshit test results to patients?
- voakbasda 4y ago
  I think this reflects a failure of the justice system. The fact that a jury acquitted her does not mean she is innocent. It means the jury was duped by yet more of her lies.

user_named 4y ago

The audacity to even ask for such a light sentence. No normal person would.

rdtwo 4y ago

While harsh prison sentences don’t work for most offenders in this case for psychopaths they work just fine

ID1452319 4y ago

She needs to go to prison for a long time (at least 10 years) for one simple reason, to act as a deterrent to anyone else who thinks you can create a company and then lie about your products capabilities in order to defraud investors and customers. It isn't just a case that people lost money in Theranos and that their customer's customer's health may have been adversely impacted, it drives right at the heart of capitalism. Yes, we all know it isn't a level playing field, but when a company is committing fraud then it impacts other companies who may have been actually trying to develop a legitimate blood testing product and undermines the public's confidence in such companies.