Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes closed her fraud trial testimony by blaming any misleading comments she'd made to investors on what company experts had told her.
Holmes, 37, she spent her final day on the stand trying to drive home the argument that she didn't intend to mislead investors and instead relied on expert feedback to glean information on company prospects.
Explaining why she'd made false statements she claimed were just honest mistakes, Holmes told jurors: 'I wanted to convey the impact.
'I wanted to talk about what this company could do a year from now, five years from now, 10 years from now.
They weren't interested in today or tomorrow or next month — they were interested in what kind of change we could make.'
Echoing that claim, defense lawyer Lance Wade added: 'Theranos didn't see mistakes as crimes. They saw them as part of the path to success.'
Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes claimed during her final day of testimony on December 8 that the deceiving comments she made about the company were based on feedback from experts
Prosecutor Robert Leach sought to remind Holmes of investors who'd been duped by false claims of Theranos' blood-testing capabilities.
He asked: 'You understand they were entitled to truthful answers about Theranos's capabilities?'
She answered: 'Of course.'
Wednesday repeatedly saw Holmes try to shun the blame for the blood-testing company's spectacular failure, which saw high profile investors duped into pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into the firm.
But on Wednesday, Holmes also admitted that the 'buck' stopped with her and that she was responsible for managing the company as its chief executive, the New York Times reported.
Holmes' comments Wednesday brought an end to hours of testimony, during which she presented herself as a domestic assault victim who was controlled by ex-boyfriend Sunny Balwani.
Her trial in San Jose, California, also heard how the former Silicon Valley wunderkind's lavish lifestyle and hunger for fame fueled the fraud.
The 37-year-old's reputation as a high-flying successful tech mogul began to unravel, as did her luxury lifestyle, after she was accused of defrauding investors and patients.
Prosecutors alleged she did so by failing to deliver on a promise to revolutionize health care with a technology that was supposed to be able to detect a wide range of diseases with just a few drops of blood.
Holmes currently faces nine counts of wires fraud, and two of conspiracy, and could face 20 years in prison if convicted.
She spent her last day on the stand trying to persuade jurors that she did not intentionally deceive investors.
Prosecutors alleged Holmes defrauded investors by failing to deliver on a promise to revolutionize health care with a technology at Theranos that was supposed to be able to detect a wide range of diseases with just a few drops of blood