Juror Says It Was 'Tough to Convict' the 'Likable' Holmes

Still, juror No. 6 Wayne Kaatz says he and his peers didn't find Theranos founder very credible
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 5, 2022 8:23 AM CST
Juror Says It Was 'Tough to Convict' the 'Likable' Holmes
Elizabeth Holmes, center, enters federal court in San Jose, Calif., on Monday.   (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

On Monday, the jury in the Elizabeth Holmes trial handed down guilty verdicts on four of the fraud and conspiracy charges against the Theranos founder, though it was a "tough" process, one of the jurors now reveals. Wayne Kaatz, aka Juror No. 6, tells ABC News that he and the other 11 jurors actually had agreed to convict Holmes on one of the counts of defrauding investors just three days into the seven-day deliberation process, but they couldn't come to an agreement on three other charges regarding fraud against investors.

"We were very saddened. We thought we had failed," Kaatz, a 64-year-old TV writer from Aptos, Calif., says of the fact that they had to inform the judge of their stalemate. A mistrial was eventually declared on those three counts, while a guilty verdict was rendered on four other counts of defrauding investors. The jury voted to acquit on four charges of Holmes defrauding patients who used her company's blood tests, with Kaatz explaining that the jury felt Holmes was "one step removed" from dealings with those patients and therefore not directly responsible.

"It's tough to convict somebody, especially somebody so likable, with such a positive dream," Kaatz notes. "[We] respected Elizabeth's belief in her technology, in her dream. [We thought], 'She still believes in it, and we still believe she believes in it." Interestingly, despite Holmes' apparent likability, the jury didn't really buy what she said in the courtroom: Kaatz says on a credibility scale of one to four, four being the most credible, the jury ranked Holmes as a two—the lowest ranking given to any witness testimony in the trial. As for how he feels about his role now that it's all over, Kaatz tells the news outlet: "It was an honor. It was a duty. I did it. I'm done." Much more on the jurors' process, as detailed by Kaatz, here. (More Elizabeth Holmes stories.)

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