(Bloomberg) -- Elizabeth Holmes’s prison sentencing was delayed after the judge overseeing the Theranos Inc. fraud case decided to review whether a key government witness’s trial testimony was truthful in light of his curious recent visit to her home.

Holmes has argued she deserves a new trial after Adam Rosendorff, a former Theranos lab director, showed up at her front door on Aug. 8 eager to talk to her about how he thought his testimony last fall had been twisted by prosecutors.

 

Read More: Elizabeth Holmes Claims Witness Remorse in New Trial Request 

US District Judge Edward Davila said he’d never heard of a witness attempting to make contact with a convict after trial. According to Holmes’s lawyers, Rosendorff arrived at her residence with an untucked shirt and messy hair and spoke at some length to her partner, Billy Evans, who described the scientist’s voice in a court filing as “slightly” trembling.

“I haven’t seen a case where this has happened before,” the judge said.

Davila expressed skepticism Monday that a full-blown examination is necessary, but his curiosity was piqued by what Holmes’s lawyer, Lance Wade, described as an “extraordinary” encounter. Davila agreed to a limited hearing to learn whether Rosendorff told the truth on the witness stand.

“What the court wants to know is, ‘Dr. Rosendorff, do you feel that the government manipulated you in their preparation or any way in regards to their testimony?” he said.

“I’m not interested in his critique of what happened, or his opinion about questions that could have or should have been asked. He’s not a lawyer,” Davila said. “He took an oath to tell the truth, and really what I want to know is, ‘Did you tell the truth?’”

Davila wants to hear from Rosendorff on Oct. 17, the day Holmes was supposed to be sentenced. He directed lawyers to pick a new sentencing date between November and January.

Holmes, 38, was found guilty in January of defrauding investors and conspiracy for her role in the collapse of the blood-testing startup she founded that reached a peak valuation of $9 billion. Her ex-boyfriend and former Theranos President Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani was convicted in July of similar counts, as well as defrauding patients.

Wade argued that a hearing to review Rosendorff’s testimony is proper in light the regrets he expressed. The lawyer also noted that Rosendorff had contacted him directly.

John Bostic, an assistant U.S. Attorney, said that after Rosendorff’s visit to Holmes’s home, the witness gave the government a sworn statement that he answered every question put to him during the trial “completely, accurately and fully to the best of his ability.” 

Rosendorff said in the statement that “nothing he has learned since giving his testimony has changed his recollection of the events he witnessed at Theranos,” Bostic said.

Holding a hearing would enable a “fishing expedition” for Holmes’s lawyers to hunt for evidence of government wrongdoing, Bostic said. “There was no such misconduct, so that evidence will not be found.”

The case is US v. Holmes, 18-cr-00258, US District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose)

 

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