Elizabeth Holmes is going to stay in prison

The last notes of the Theranos melody have sounded. The symphony is over and the audience is heading home. That is what it feels like to see this headline:

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes loses fraud appeal. (BBC).

Theranos was a huge story in the business world in the period 2014-2018, in the rise and fall of its claims to revolutionize healthcare tech.

It was a big story in the world of crime and punishment in the period that followed its collapse, ending with the conviction of Theranos founder Holmes and her sentencing in the US district court for northern California in November 2022 for a little over 11 years.

In the two and a quarter years since, though, the world of constant short news cycles has passed her by. So it comes as a bit of a nostalgic trip to be reminded of the particulars by the circuit court's denial of her appeal in recent days.

The appeal contained the usual range of evidentiary issues -- some things were allowed in the evidence that should have been excluded, other things were excluded that should have been allowed, to hear the defense tell it. For example, Holmes' lawyers wanted to enter evidence that her co-defendant and one-time romantic interest, Sunny Balwani, had said that he "owned" the business model. That would have bolstered her "it was all Balwanis fault" defense.

The appeals court was unimpressed. And that is the right answer. As is this --

The moving finger writes, and having writ

Moves on, nor all your piety nor wit

Can lure it back to cancel half a line.

Nor all your tears wash out a word of it.

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