REUTERS/Stephen Lam
- US District Judge Edward Davila is presiding over the trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes.
- Earlier this week he dismissed nine people as jurors because there weren't vaccinated.
- He cited concerns about the health of jurors and their families as the reason for his decision.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
The judge presiding over the Theranos trial has dismissed nine people from the jury pool because they were not vaccinated, Reuters reported Tuesday.
US District Judge Edward Davila took the action on Tuesday, saying his decision was motivated by concern for jurors' health and those of their families, Reuters reported.
Both the defense and the prosecution supported the decision, the agency reported.
Dismissing jurors on the basis of their not being vaccinated is within the court's power, and could arise more frequently as courts resume in-person trials, Reuters noted.
But Hadar Aviram, a professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, told Reuters that excluding unvaccinated people could lead to a jury that is not representative of the general population.
For example, a July poll from Axios and Ipsos showed that white conservatives are more likely to be resistant to being vaccinated in the US.
Information about the dismissed jurors' genders, ages, and ethnicities were not made publicly available.
A panel of seven men and five women were sworn in on Thursday for Holmes trial, Bloomberg reported.
The trial's opening statements are expected next Wednesday.
The Department of Justice has charged Theranos founder Holmes and former chief operating officer Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani with nine counts of wire fraud, and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in 2018 on allegations that the pair had defrauded investors, medical professionals, and customers. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Holmes could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted, as Insider's Melkorka Licea has reported.