Silicon Valley startups are often perceived to be walking a line between exaggeration and deception in promoting their products. Federal prosecutors trying Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Homes in California must convince a jury that she didn’t believe her own hype.
Ms. Holmes’s trial is slated to begin Wednesday, when her lawyers and prosecutors for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of California make their opening statements, kicking off what is expected to be several weeks of witness testimony. Ms. Holmes is the rare chief executive to personally go on trial, facing charges of defrauding patients and investors about the nature of her startup’s blood-testing technology.
