Dorothy Atkins@doratki
3h
Good morning from San Jose! I'm waiting outside Judge Ed Davila's courtroom for jury selection in Sunny Balwani's criminal trial to begin. More media folks are here too, but not enough to fill the courtroom like during Holmes' jury selection.
Dorothy Atkins@doratki
2h
We're inside the courtroom & Judge Davila is on the bench. Balwani is here, wearing a suit and tie. There are six observers including myself - plenty of room to space out. Most of us are press. The judge says the first batch of jurors are waiting to be called in for questioning.
Dorothy Atkins@doratki
2h
Balwani's counsel says he wants to excuse 14 jurors for bias in their questionnaires. Prosecutors object. Balwani's atty also asks the judge what the protocol will be for questioning jurors individually. The judge says, "I think it’s rather fluid" and "the answer is, it depends."
Dorothy Atkins@doratki
2h
Judge Davila says he has an instruction on hand and will tell jurors that they should not consider why Elizabeth Holmes is not here and why she is not a defendant in this trial. He may read it during jury selection if they ask, he says.
Dorothy Atkins@doratki
2h
Judge Davila went to go get the prospective jurors - little do they know that for some of them their lives are about to be completely upended by a months-long trial. (Meanwhile, I'm really trying hard not to be bitter about these hard wooden court benches.)
Dorothy Atkins@doratki
2h
Roughly 35 jurors have taken their designated seats and the judge swore them in. Attorneys for both sides introduced themselves, and a prosecutor noted there's and FBI agent and an FDA agent here watching - no pressure.
Dorothy Atkins@doratki
2h
The judge is explaining the court's COVID-19 protocol and its "five-years young" HVAC system, which filters air. He says the court also has COVID-19 tests if needed, which is new. For Holmes' trial in Sept, he told jurors the court couldn't afford to get tests b/c it cost $30k.
Dorothy Atkins@doratki
1h
The judge just asked if anyone has "read or heard" of news coverage of this case. A bunch of hands went up. The judge now is asking jurors one by one what they've seen/heard. One woman heard something about it from "a video on Youtube," but she says she can be unbiased.
Dorothy Atkins@doratki
1h
Another potential juror tells the judge that he consumes "quite a bit of news" and he can try to put aside any biases, but "I don’t know what effect that has on me."
Dorothy Atkins@doratki
1h
A juror who was difficult to understand rambled a bit about Elizabeth Holmes and blood tests. Another juror says he read about Holmes' trial, and he doesn't know if he can be unbiased b/c he was in the military and he holds people in powerful positions to a higher standard.
