By Jane Lanhee Lee and Jody Godoy
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Reuters) -A U.S. jury was urged to continue deliberating on Monday after saying in a note it could not agree on a verdict on all of the charges against Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who is accused of fraud connected with the blood testing startup.
U.S. District Judge Edward Davila instructed jurors to continue their discussions and try to seek agreement without giving up their individual beliefs, after they announced they had been unable to reach unanimity on three of the 11 counts Holmes faces.
Prosecutors said Holmes, 37, swindled private investors by convincing them that Theranos’ small machines could run a range of tests with a few drops of blood from a finger prick. Holmes is also charged with defrauding patients.
Deliberations began before Christmas. The note raises the possibility that the jury has reached or is close to agreeing on verdicts on some of the counts.
(Reporting by Jane Lanhee Lee and Ann Saphir in Oakland, Calif., and Jody Godoy in New YorkEditing by Noeleen Walder, Peter Henderson and Matthew Lewis)